Hillary Clinton
Related: About this forumABC News exit poll results for West Virginia
The following is reportable as preliminary exit poll results from the West Virginia Democratic primary. Please note that exit poll results can and do change as additional data come in sometimes substantially. Check back for updates.
The highest level of economic concern in any Democratic primary this year and greater-than-usual turnout among men, whites, political independents and critics of President Obama characterize the West Virginia Democratic contest in preliminary exit poll results.
Extraordinary economic stress is evident:
Two-thirds of voters say theyre very worried about the direction of the nations economy in the next few years, by far the highest level of economy worry in a Democratic primary this year far above the average, 40 percent, and rivaling the customary level seen in Republican primaries.
More than six in 10 call the economy and jobs the most important issue in their vote, again by far the highest in any Democratic contest this year.
A majority in the state thinks trade with other countries takes away more U.S. jobs than it creates, vs. only a third who says trade creates more jobs. Its been much closer, 45-39 percent, in previous states where its been asked.
Bernie Sanders has done better in previous primaries among those who are more worried about the economy than among those who are less worried. And hes narrowly won anti-trade voters in contests to date, while losing pro-trade voters to Clinton by a 17-point margin.
Coal workers: The state's depressed coal industry is a key reason for its economic woes. Three in 10 West Virginia Democratic primary voters in preliminary exit poll results say they live in a household with a coal worker. Clintons gaffe about creating jobs because were going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business makes this a group worth watching.
Gender: Sanders has done much better with men than women in previous primaries and its helped Clinton tremendously that women have outnumbered men by 58-42 percent overall. Not so in preliminary exit poll results in West Virginia, in which men and women are essentially evenly divided.
Party: Political independents, another group thats been much better for Sanders in previous races, account for a third of voters in preliminary exit poll results, well above the average to date, 22 percent.
Obama: Only a quarter of Democratic primary voters in West Virginia want the next president to continue Obamas policies, a strong group for Clinton to date; thats down from 54 percent on average in previous contests this year. An additional quarter wants more liberal policies, a group thats voted just as strongly for Sanders, and more than four in 10 want less liberal policies, more than three times more than the average this year, and a group thats narrowly favored Sanders in past contests.
Qualities: Roughly six in 10 voters in preliminary exit poll results say honesty or empathy are most important to their vote; theyve been more likely to support Sanders (especially honesty voters) to date. Fewer than four in 10 instead call electability or experience most important, voters among whom Clintons dominated. Honesty/empathy voters are outnumbering those focused on experience/electability by a bigger margin than usual in West Virginia.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-democratic-primary-exit-poll-results/story?id=38992745
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)Treant
(1,968 posts)gotten at least 40% of WV votes from Democrats, at least.
I'm still saying Sanders +15 for WV, but we'll find out in two hours or so.
yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)my big fat butt!
yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)Democrats stayed home - the primary is really over!
After all, this is a Red State, and successful Democratic environmental policies and the present cheaper alternatives to coal are putting "coal miners and coal companies out of business" (not Hillary ).
SaschaHM
(2,897 posts)A man in jail received 41% in 2012 when Obama was seeking reelection. I think that says all it needs to about the state. We're not winning it again until we nominate a conservative white male.
SharonClark
(10,014 posts)We can't use it as a harbinger of upcoming primaries.
BootinUp
(47,230 posts)Also, factoring in 40% of Bernies voters going for Trump.