If the 2020 presidential primary election were held today, Chattanooga's leaders would choose former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg over all other candidates, according to a new Power Poll released Thursday.
More than 35% of respondents said they favored Bloomberg over President Donald Trump or any other candidate. Trump placed second with 28% of respondents, and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar finished third with nearly 6%. Nearly 20% of respondents said they did not know who they would vote for or would do a write-in ballot.
Bloomberg visited Chattanooga last week for a rally in a series of campaign events in the South while other Democratic candidates were stumping for the early-voting states that Bloomberg's campaign elected to skip. The former New York mayor positioned himself firmly against the current president and spoke little of the other candidates, something Bloomberg has since strayed from after a heated Democratic debate, his first, on Wednesday night.
Among Chattanooga's leaders, the moderate former Vice President Joe Biden polled behind three other moderate candidates, including Bloomberg, Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Bloomberg was heavily favored in a match-up with only other Democratic candidates, winning more than 60% of the vote.
READ MORE: Bloomberg rallies Chattanooga: 'Trump is afraid of me.'
Statewide, Bloomberg is again favored, receiving nearly 35% of votes. Trump finished second with nearly 24% of the votes. However, any Democrat will struggle to carry Tennessee, a state that voted overwhelmingly for President Donald Trump in 2016 and has not gone to a Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1996.
The Power Poll is not a scientific survey. It includes responses from business, government and nonprofit leaders who influence and help shape the local community. It was conducted over the past month.
Contact Wyatt Massey at wmassey@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @news4mass.