Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is up three points over Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire, according to a Monmouth poll released Tuesday.
Clinton’s 48-45 percent lead over Sanders reverses the September results showing Sanders leads 49 percent to 41 percent. Sanders, a democratic socialist from Vermont, has been doing well in the neighboring first primary state.
Underdog candidate Martin O’Malley remains at 3 percent, basically unchanged from September even though Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb have both dropped out of the race and Joe Biden decided not to run.
While Sanders is no longer the leader among New Hampshire Democrats he does hold the advantage among his key voting blocs. He leads Clinton among male voters 54 percent to 37 percent, voters under age 50 at 54 percent to 36 percent and among registered independents and new voters 59 percent to 36 percent. Clinton maintains her lead among female voters 56-37 and among voters over 50 at 56 percent to 38 percent.
“The Clinton team has recently taken to charging Sanders with sexism over some of his remarks. This may be one reason why she has been able to win back women voters in her base,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
Clinton also leads Sanders among registered Democrats 57 percent to 35 percent.
Murray added, “Past results show that registered Democrats are likely to make up a majority of the primary electorate. Sanders either has to convince more of these voters to support him or he has to turn out an unprecedented number of independents and brand new voters.”
