The Big Six: Trump, Biden, Warren, Klobuchar, Yang, Buttigieg score in the Digest’s Bioeconomy 2020 US Presidential Poll

In Florida, US President Donald Trump led 19 other candidates in the first Digest Bioeconomy 2020 US Presidential Poll, gaining 31.7 percent support in the bipartisan poll which featured 18 leading Democratic candidates along with the President and his lone declared Republican challenger.

Leading among Democrats were former Vice President Joe Biden at 21.1 percent, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren at 11.6 percent, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar at 6.3 percent, entrepreneur Andrew Yang at 6.2 percent and South Bend, Indiana mayor Peter Buttigieg at 5.8 percent. No other candidate reached 4 percent in the poll of Digest readers. Non-registered voters were able to vote but their preferences were not included in the totals above.

The Digest audience is not representative of the US as a whole, skewing slightly younger and more towards rural areas and financial centers that are closely interlinked with the advanced bioeconomy.

In a second question, voters selected the candidates that, in their view and focusing in on the issues of energy, food, health, manufacturing, agriculture, advanced technology R&D, climate, clean air, tax policy, and infrastructure change, had the right “combination of policies and leadership skills” to serve as US President. Respondents could select more than one candidate in this question, if they wished.

In the bioeconomy policy question, President Trump also led the field with 25.9 percent support. Among Democratic candidates, former Vice President Joe Biden led with 21.6 percent support, followed by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren at 18.0 percent, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar at 13.7 percent, entrepreneur Andrew Yang at 10.1 percent and South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg at 9.4 percent. No other candidate polled above 6.5 percent for this question.

Trump leads but narrowly

Despite the drumbeat of negative coverage for the US President over trade policy immigration and climate change, the President took the lead in both polls, though the narrow margin between the President and other candidates might be noted by supporters as a sign of trouble ahead, given the Digest’s editorial focus on news regarding rural development, domestic energy and advanced manufacturing.

In all, 68.3 percent of respondents preferred a Democratic candidate in this poll.

Klobuchar, Yang polling strong in the bioeconomy

Support for Vice President Biden, Senator Warren and Mayor Buttigieg tracked closely to their respective standings in national polls. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and entrepreneur Andrew Yang scored much more strongly with Digest readers and in the advanced bioeconomy than in recent national polls.

In measuring bioeconomy policies and leadership skills, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Klobuchar considerably narrowed the lead of Trump and Biden. Yang, Buttigieg, Harris, Gillibrand and two former candidates, former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and Washington state Governor Jay Inslee both scored notably higher support for their policies and skills than for their candidacies.

Poor results for Harris, Sanders, O’Rourke

California Senator Kamala Harris, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke polled considerably lower than their standings in other national polls, which may indicate that the candidates have so far struggled to click with rural or renewables technology-oriented voters and that their appeal lies more in the realm of health insurance, for example, among other issues that were not a focus of this bioeconomy poll.

Non-registered voters lean left, towards better-known candidates

Although votes for non-registrants were excluded for the purposes of this article, in general, the support veered sharply towards Democrats and especially towards the better-known candidates such as Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, compared to the results with registered voters.

The Big Six

For now, there’s a clear Big Six in the field for Digest readers: Trump, Biden, Warren, Klobuchar, Yang and Buttigieg — and in many ways they represent an interesting and broad demographic and political spectrum. No one political “lane” or demographic set dominates here, and there are candidates with extensive and little experience of national government.

The Digest will focus in on the Big Six, and will continue to survey the readership to test if other candidates are able to make a run for the bioeconomy’s hearts and votes.

Polling results

Which US Presidential candidate do you support for the 2020 election, at this time?

Donald Trump 31.7%

Joe Biden 21.1%

Elizabeth Warren 11.6%

Amy Klobuchar 6.3%

Andrew Yang 6.2%

Pete Buttigieg 5.8%

Kamala Harris 3.0%

Bernie Sanders 3.0%

Jay Inslee 2.0%

Beto O’Rourke 1.3%

Kirsten Gillbrand 1.0%

Tulsi Gabbard 0.8%

Cory Booker 0.7%

John Delaney 0.6%

William Weld 0.0%

Michael Bennet 0.0%

Julian Castro 0.0%

Bill de Blasio 0.0%

John Hickenlooper 0.0%

Marianne Williamson 0.0%

Other 4.8%

Thinking only about bioeconomy policy, which candidate(s) have the right combination of policies and leadership skills relating to bioeconomy concerns such as energy, food, health, manufacturing, agriculture, advanced technology R&D, climate, clean air, tax policy, and infrastructure change to best serve, in your view, as US President?

Donald Trump 25.9%

Joe Biden 21.6%

Elizabeth Warren 18.0%

Amy Klobuchar 13.7%

Andrew Yang 10.1%

Pete Buttigieg 9.4%

Kamala Harris 6.5%

Jay Inslee 6.5%

Bernie Sanders 6.5%

John Hickenlooper 5.0%

Kirsten Gillbrand 4.3%

Julian Castro 3.6%

John Delaney 3.6%

Tulsi Gabbard 3.6%

Michael Bennet 2.9%

Beto O’Rourke 2.9%

Cory Booker 2.2%

Bill de Blasio 0.7%

Marianne Williamson 0.7%

William Weld 0.0%

Other 4.3%