In the final days before this weekend’s Democratic caucus in Nevada, a new CNN/ORC poll shows presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton running neck-and-neck in the Silver State.
The survey of 1,006 Nevada voters, including 282 likely Democratic caucus-goers, shows Clinton and Sanders at 48 percent and 47 percent support, respectively.
While Clinton is expected to outperform Sanders among African-American voters in South Carolina, which will hold its Democratic primary on Feb. 27, CNN claims its data shows non-minority and minority voters in Nevada are “about evenly divided between the two candidates.” However, poll results do not show the percentage of support either candidate has among non-white voters, presumably due to the small sample size.
On most key issues in the 2016 cycle, Clinton edges Sanders as the more trusted candidate. On foreign policy, 68 percent of Democratic caucus-goers trust the former secretary of state while 28 percent trust Sanders. On immigration, Clinton beats the Vermont senator 56-37 percent and 58-38 percent on race relations. Voters are more torn when it comes to who they trust to handle the economy; Clinton bests Sanders on this issue by just one percentage point, 48 to 47 percent.
Democratic caucus-goers are also divided down the middle when it comes to picking a candidate who best represents their values. In this category, Clinton leads Sanders 50-49 percent.
While the latest survey shows the two Democratic hopefuls virtually tied in Nevada, Jon Ralston, a veteran political operative in the state, notes the level of uncertainty Nevada’s same-day voter registration introduces in polls.
One other thing on uncertain Dem side in NV for any poll: In ’08, a quarter of turnout was same-day registrants. Could skew results Sat.
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) February 17, 2016
The CNN/ORC survey was conducted between Feb. 10-15. Results contain a margin of error plus or minus 8.5 percentage points.
