Voters rank all the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates from most to least experienced

Grace Panetta,Walt Hickey

Jun 12, 2019, 21:11 IST

Voters rank all the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates from most to least experienced

AP Photo/Jessica Hill

Joe Biden

Democratic primary voters perceive former US Senator and Vice President Joe Biden to be far more experienced than the rest of the 2020 presidential primary field, new INSIDER polling found.
To capture how every candidate's experience is perceived in a single number, in a recent survey we asked respondents to rank the 2020 candidates they knew of by how experienced they saw the candidate to be.
Using the results of this question, we were able to calculate a "win percentage," where we can divide the times a candidate was ranked higher than a rival by the total number of times they were compared to a rival.
Biden won 90% of match-ups, meaning that when he was ranked, he was ranked higher than other ranked candidates 90% of the time.
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Democratic primary voters perceive former US Senator and Vice President Joe Biden to be far more experienced than the rest of the 2020 presidential primary field, new INSIDER polling found.

To capture how every candidate's experience is perceived in a single number, we asked respondents to rank the 2020 candidates they knew of by how experienced they saw the candidate to be.

Once the poll respondents indicated which of the candidates they had heard of, INSIDER asked them: "Based on what you know about candidates history of public service and experience with government, can you rank the following people based on how prepared they are for the rigors of the presidency?"

Using the results of this question, we were able to calculate a "win percentage," where we can divide the times a candidate was ranked higher than a rival by the total number of times they were compared to a rival.

Biden, who was President Barack Obama's vice president for eight years following a 36-year-long career in the US Senate, won 90% of match-ups, meaning that when ranked, he was ranked higher than 90% of other ranked candidates.

Meanwhile, both Sen. Bernie Sanders, the highest-ranked senator, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren were ranked as the more experienced candidate in more than 65% of their matchups.

The survey didn't reveal any clear gender-based trends in how respondents viewed male compared to female candidates.

While male respondents ranked Sen. Kamala Harris and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as being more experienced than female respondents, the opposite was true for Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, for whom women's perception of their experience was higher than men's.

And for some male candidates, such as Rep. Eric Swalwell, the highest-ranked member of the House, Rep. Tim Ryan and former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, female respondents' perception of their experience was higher than male respondents' perceptions by significant margins.

In an unlikely twist, Swalwell still ranked higher than Sen. Michael Bennet and Gov. Steve Bullock, the lowest-ranked senators and governors. Here's how our poll respondents ranked the candidates:

SurveyMonkey Audience polls from a national sample balanced by census data of age and gender. Respondents are incentivized to complete surveys through charitable contributions. Generally speaking, digital polling tends to skew toward people with access to the internet. SurveyMonkey Audience doesn't try to weight its sample based on race or income. Total 1,168 respondents collected May 17 to 18, 2019, a margin of error plus or minus 3.08 percentage points with a 95% confidence level.

Former Vice President Joe Biden won 90% of match-ups, meaning that when ranked, he was ranked higher than 90% of other ranked candidates.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has served in Congress since 1991, was ranked as more experienced than other candidates 71% of the time — the highest-ranked Senator.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a former law professor, was perceived as more experienced than 65% of other ranked candidates when they were ranked.

Sen. Kamala Harris of California, a former prosecutor, was ranked higher in 53% of matchups against other candidates, with men perceiving her as more experienced than women by a margin of five percentage points.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a former mayor, was perceived as more experienced than 47% of his matchups against other candidates.

Washington Governor and former congressman Jay Inslee — the highest-ranked governor — was ranked as more experienced in 46% of his matchups.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota was also ranked as more experienced in 46% of her matchups with a notable gender gap in that men's perception of her experience was five percentage points lower than women's perception.

Former Colorado Governor and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper was ranked higher than in 44% of matchups.

Former Housing & Urban Development Secretary and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro was ranked higher in 43% of his head-to-head matchups, with women's perception of his experience 9 percentage points higher than men's perception.

Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, the highest-ranked member of the House, had a score of 43% with a big gender gap. Women's perception of his experience was eight percentage points higher than men's perception.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York was ranked higher 42% of her matchups in rankings.

Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, the lowest-ranked senator, was ranked higher than 41% of other ranked candidates.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, the lowest-ranked governor, was also perceived as more experienced 41% of his matchups.

Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas was ranked higher than other candidates in only 40% of matchups.

Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio was ranked as more experienced than 35% of ranked candidates, with male respondents' perception of his experience a full 10 percentage points lower than women's perception of his experience.

Former Maryland congressman and business executive John Delaney was also perceived as more experienced in 35% of matchups. Men's perception of Delaney's experience was 13 percentage points higher than women's perception of his experience.

South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg was ranked as more experienced in only 34% of rankings over other candidates.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a National Guard and US Army veteran, was perceived as more experienced than 34% of other contenders when ranked, on average, with men's perception of her experience a full 10 percentage points higher than women's perception of her experience.

Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, a Marine Corps veteran, was the lowest-ranked House representative with a score of 31%.

Entrepreneur and businessman Andrew Yang, who has never held elected office, is perceived as more experienced than 26% of ranked candidates.

Self-help and spiritual author Marianne Williamson, who has also never held elected office, was perceived as more experienced only 13% of the time.

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