Looking at the ideological breakdown of Virginia’s primary vote, data from the preliminary exit polls found that Biden won by 20 or more points among the two largest segments of the Democratic electorate: somewhat liberal and moderate voters, who made up about 70 percent of all voters. But Sanders did beat Biden among the one-fifth or so of the electorate who called themselves very liberal.
Moderate Virginians overwhelmingly voted for Biden
Vote share by candidate in the 2020 Virginia Democratic primary within voter political ideology groups, according to preliminary exit poll data
| Candidate | Very liberal (19%) | Somewhat liberal (34%) | Moderate (38%) | Conservative (9%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biden | 32% | 45% | 58% | 41% |
| Sanders | 46 | 23 | 16 | 31 |
| Bloomberg | 6 | 8 | 14 | 15 |
| Warren | 15 | 20 | 6 | 5 |