Bernie Sanders Has Commanding Lead Over Biden Among Gen Z Voters, But Barely Registers With Boomers: New Poll

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders holds a dominant lead over every other Democratic presidential candidate among younger Generation Z and Millennial voters, but his support among older Baby Boomer Democrats barely registers.

Tuesday's release of the latest Morning Consult polling data shows Sanders with a whopping 47 percent of support among Gen Z voters, those between roughly 18 and 24 years old. Sanders has almost three times as much support as former Vice President Joe Biden, who has 17 percent of Gen Z support and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has 11 percent. Among Millennial Democrats, Sanders has exactly double the support of Biden, with 40 percent to Biden's 20 percent. But when Baby Boomers over the age of 60 are accounted for, Sanders' own generation, the Vermont senator performs poorly.

Overall, Biden and Sanders still lead the Democratic presidential pack, with Biden maintaining 29 percent of support and Sanders sitting at about 23 percent. Warren pulls in 14 percent of Democratic primary voter backing but former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is now nipping at her heels after spiking up to 12 percent.

Sanders leads the pack among self-described "liberal" voters, while Biden is the frontrunner among "moderate" and "conservative" Democratic voters. But in terms of generational gaps, the most glaring statistical divide is Sanders' overwhelming support from voters under the age of 40 versus his lack of support among voters of the Generation X and Baby Boomer age ranges. Among Boomers, Biden doubles all other candidates with 36 percent of support. Bloomberg is his closest potential rival with 16 percent.

Sanders falls back to fourth place with 12 percent of support from Boomers.

As the Morning Consult poll shows, support for Sanders among Democratic voters over the age of 65 has dramatically declined from a net favorability of +51 of just three weeks ago to only +35 today. The results of the Morning Consult poll is collected from 41,997 surveys of registered voters, which included 17,836 surveys among Democratic primary voters between January 20 and January 26.

In terms of racial demographics, Biden and Sanders trade off the top spot among white, black and Hispanic voters and have shut out all other candidates from frontrunner status. Biden, Sanders and billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer are all relatively close in early primary states including New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, whose primaries are less than a week away.

Since Morning Consult's daily tracking began in January of last year, Biden has maintained his status as the top candidate while Sanders remains in second after a brief dip below Warren during the fall of last year.

bernie sanders boomers gen z
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders holds a dominant lead over every other Democratic presidential candidate among younger Generation Z and Millennial voters, but his support among older Baby Boomer Democrats barely registers. CHIP SOMODEVILLA / Staff/Getty Images

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Benjamin Fearnow is a reporter based out of Newsweek's New York City offices. He was previously at CBS and Mediaite ... Read more

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