Lincoln Eggertz, 37, voted for Sanders because he said it’s time to get rid of ultra-wealthy politicians and replace them with someone who understands the plight of regular people. He scoffed at the theory that Sanders can’t beat President Donald Trump in November.
“I think there is a lot of young people out there that want to see change and that whole entire group is underestimated right now,” said Eggertz, a college student and bartender from Sandy, Utah.
Nationally, the high-profile series of primaries in 14 delegate-rich states across the country came as the Democratic centrists lined up behind former vice-president Joe Biden, who has pitched himself as the best choice to defeat President Donald Trump.
Voters like Rob Applegarth, a 67-year-old respiratory therapist from Riverton, agreed. He said he personally likes some of the ideas he hears from Sanders, but thinks Biden can bring in a bigger coalition. “I think Bernie scares people off,” he said.
His wife, Suzy Applegarth, on the other hand, voted for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. “If she was a man, she’d be winning,” said the registered nurse.
Biden could even bring in some Republicans turned off by Trump, said Alton McCalla, a 37-year-old data analyst from Sandy.
“I think he’ll bridge the gap,” McCalla said.
He never considered Mike Bloomberg, who has been criticized for enforcing a “stop and frisk” policing tactic while he was mayor of New York City that disproportionately affected minorities. McCalla, who is black, said he lived in New York during that era and said he was frisked so frequently that he would just stop and tell the officers to get it over with it.
