More than 300 people cast votes for Democratic presidential candidates in a straw poll at last week’s sidewalk bazaar in Gloucester.

The Gloucester Democratic City Committee invited passers-by to vote for their first and second choices for two of the 24 announced Democratic presidential candidates. They were instructed to place a toothpick (first choice) or plastic straw (second choice) in containers affixed to a giant billboard labeled with candidate names. Not all of the voters followed instructions; 337 voted for their first choice and 260 voted for their second choice. Results are displayed in the table below.

When only first choice votes were considered, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, and Bernie Sanders came in first, second and third, respectively. However, when first and second choice votes were considered together, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were ranked first, second and third. Bernie Sanders (5th ranked) fell below Pete Buttigieg (4th ranked) when first and second choice votes were combined.

Ten candidates ranked in the top ten regardless of first or second choice, and our Congressman Seth Moulton received more support when first and second choices were considered together. These results are somewhat different than the latest national polls as reported by www.fivethirtyeight.com, which show Biden first, Sanders second, and Warren third. However, Cape Ann voters and national polls both list the same top 5 choices, including Harris and Buttigieg.

We should caution any reader that this polling method is not representative of any group except those people who happened to come to the Sidewalk Bazaar in Gloucester, stopped at the Democrats booth, and wanted to register their choices.