Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders by a 28-point margin in New Jersey, with just a month to go before that state’s June 7 Democratic primary.
According to a new Monmouth University Polling Institute survey, Clinton leads Sanders 60 percent-32 percent, numbers that will make it harder for Sanders to build off his Indiana victory and force a contested Democratic convention in July.
The poll said Clinton is more popular than the Vermont senator in nearly every demographic group, including voters over 50 (70 percent-25 percent), voters under 50 (51 percent-38 percent), black voters (64 percent-24 percent), white voters (60 percent-34 percent) and women (69 percent-22 percent). Sanders does hold a narrow lead over Clinton among white men (49 percent-45 percent).
“Despite her loss in Indiana, it looks like Clinton is on target to corral the delegates she needs for the nomination. New Jersey is shaping up to make a significant contribution to her final total,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
Looking toward the general election, New Jersey Democrats aren’t overly excited about the prospects of their Sen. Cory Booker on the ticket as Clinton’s vice president. Nearly half of voters, 48 percent, believe adding Booker to the ticket would neither hurt the former secretary of state nor help her, while 33 percent say Booker helps and 10 percent say he hurts Clinton.
“New Jersey Democrats don’t have anything against Booker. They just think Clinton might want to look elsewhere for a running mate who could give her a strategic edge,” Murray said.
By the time New Jersey democrats head to the polls, it is likely Clinton will have reached the necessary 2,383 delegates as she currently holds 2,220 delegates, including both pledged delegates and superdelegates. After winning the Indiana primary Tuesday night, Sanders has 1,449 delegates. Even if Clinton secures the nomination before the New Jersey primary in June, 81 percent of voters surveyed said they would still turn out to the polls, including 84 percent of Clinton supporters and 77 percent of Sanders supporters.
The poll was conducted from May 1-3, among 301 New Jersey democratic voters, and has a margin of error of +/- 5.7 percent.
