Biden wins Broward Young Democrats straw vote

Bernie Sanders gets much of his support from younger Democrats, but not so much at the Broward Young Democrats.

Members of the group voted narrowly for Joe Biden over Sanders in a preprimary straw vote Monday night.

Among the group’s members, Biden received 14 votes and Sanders received 12 votes.

The organization also allowed non-members to vote — many of whom are older than 40 and are no longer eligible for membership. Among the nonmembers, there were 18 votes for Biden and 8 for Sanders.

That produced an overall result of 32 for Biden and 20 for Sanders.

“The split between members and nonmembers is very interesting,” club president Clay Miller said in announcing the results.

The voting at the Broward political club reflects what’s been happening in primary voting across the country. Sanders has his greatest support among younger voters. Biden’s greatest support comes from older voters.

Miller said afterward he thought the results would show something different, given that the people who are members of the Young Democrats are so involved in the Democratic Party. “I thought the members were going to go more for Biden because they’re more involved in the Democratic structure,” he said.

Two people voted for the third candidate who is still in the race, Tulsi Gabbard. Before Miller called up Biden and Sanders representatives, he asked if anyone was present representing Gabbard. His question was greeted with laughter.

About 20 people present left before the voting or didn’t vote. Miller said some people in the group were “hard core” supporters of Pete Buttigieg or Elizabeth Warren, both of whom have dropped out.

One person wrote in Warren’s name.