Poll: Biden only Democrat beating Trump in Ohio

(CN) – Former Vice President Joe Biden is currently the only Democrat poised to defeat President Donald Trump in the Buckeye State, according to a new poll released this week.

The Quinnipiac University poll finds Biden leading the president in a hypothetical match-up 50-42 percent in Ohio, a critical swing state that Trump won in the 2016 presidential election.

“Former Vice President Joseph Biden calls himself a blue-collar guy,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “With Ohio certainly a blue-collar state, it is no surprise he is the Democrat who runs best against President Donald Trump and is solidly ahead in the Democratic primary in the Buckeye State.”

Biden’s 8-point lead is noticeable, as leftist Democratic contenders such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren both polled at 45 percent to Trump’s 46 percent.

While white Ohio voters surveyed were more divided, with 48 percent supporting Trump and 45 percent for Biden, black voters, women and independents drove up Biden’s score in the theoretical contest. Among women, Biden leads 53-40 percent, while black voters go to Biden 84-8 percent and independent voters favor Biden 55-32 percent.

“Biden runs best against President Trump in every Quinnipiac University state poll so far. To get reelected, Trump will need to win the industrial Midwest. Ohio certainly is key to that plan,” Brown said.

Among the Democratic presidential hopefuls, Biden still leads in the Buckeye State at 31 percent support among Ohio Democrats and independents who lean Democratic. California Sen. Kamala Harris and Sanders are tied for second at 14 percent each, followed by Warren at 13 percent and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 6 percent.

“Vice President Biden’s blue-collar roots aren’t necessarily the key to his success. It’s his half century in Democratic politics and almost universal name recognition,” Brown said. “After all, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan is the only native Buckeye in the crowded Democratic pack, yet he is polling at just 1 percent. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg also is getting little help from his status as a neighbor.”

Brown noted that Harris, Warren and Sanders are each trailing Biden by a 2-1 margin, despite stronger polling results nationally and in other states such as California, where Harris is in a dead heat with front-runner Biden.

The poll surveyed 1,431 Ohio voters July 17-22 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.