Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton carries a 12-point lead over Bernie Sanders in the final week before the New York primary, a new poll shows. But not much of it seems to stem from the idea that the former Empire State senator is a New Yorker.
According to a Monmouth University poll released Monday, Clinton leads Sanders 51-39 percent among New York Democrats. The former secretary of state also carries a significant advantage among African-Americans, Hispanics and voters age 50 and older.
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Sanders barely edges Clinton among white voters, 48-46 percent, and is within the survey’s margin of error against her among voters age 50 and under, 45-43 percent. Nearly 10 percent of Democratic voters have yet to decide which candidate they’ll support in the upcoming April 19 primary.
“It is worth noting that a significant number of minority voters in New York City are undecided. Based on past primaries, these should turn out to be Clinton voters, but Sanders is making an all-out appeal for their support,” Monmouth University’s polling director said in a statement.
Despite winning New York by a 17-point margin in 2008, Clinton appears to have less of a boost this time around in the state she represented for eight years in the U.S. Senate. Less than 30 percent of New York Democrats say they consider Clinton a New Yorker, 32 percent view her as “somewhat” of a New Yorker and 35 percent don’t consider her a New Yorker at all.
About the same percentage of voters consider Sanders, who was born in Brooklyn and left New York shortly after he completed high school, to be a native of the Empire State.
While Clinton leads her socialist opponent in New York, a greater percentage of Sanders’ supporters are firmly committed to backing him than Clinton’s. Sixty-five percent of voters choosing to support the Vermont senator say their choice is locked in, while 56 percent of Clinton’s supporters say the same. Nearly a quarter of Democratic voters strongly prefer one candidate, but indicated they could change their mind in the next week.
The Monmouth University survey of 302 New York Democrats was conducted April 8-10. Results contain a margin of error plus or minus 5.6 percentage points.
