Poll: Clinton maintains double-digit lead in NY

Hillary Clinton’s huge lead among black voters has helped her maintain a double-digit margin over Bernie Sanders in New York, a new poll finds.

According to a Quinnipiac University survey released Tuesday, Clinton takes 53 percent support to Sanders’s 40 percent ahead of the critical primary on April 19.

That’s essentially unchanged from the same poll at the end of March, when Clinton led 54 to 42 percent.

Clinton’s lead in New York is solidified by overwhelming support among black voters; she leads among that demographic 65 to 28 percent.

{mosads}Sanders has a strong contingent of black surrogates and supporters working on his behalf in New York, including director Spike Lee and civil rights icon Harry Belafonte, but so far he has been unable to cut into Clinton’s huge advantage there.

“Black voters matter for Secretary Hillary Clinton in the New York Democratic primary,” said Quinnipiac pollster Maurice Carroll. “She leads Sen. Bernie Sanders in many New York demographic groups except the young folks and very liberal voters, but it’s a huge lead among black voters that gives her a comfortable double-digit margin.”

Clinton also leads Sanders among white voters, with 50 percent to Sanders’s 45 percent.

Sanders has been on a roll, winning seven of the last eight voting contests. But Clinton still holds a big lead in delegates, and Sanders needs to perform well in Clinton’s home state to slow her march to the nomination.

The Quinnipiac survey found that voter preferences among New Yorkers are beginning to solidify, with only 7 percent saying they remain undecided and 18 percent saying they could still change their minds.

“At this sort-of-late stage in the primary marathon, voters’ minds are pretty well made up,” Carroll said. “Four out of 5 supporters of each Democrat say they won’t switch.” 

As usual, Sanders leads big with young voters, taking 55 percent over Clinton’s 36 percent support among those ages 18 to 44.

He also has a double-digit lead among those who describe themselves as “very liberal,” while Clinton leads among Democrats who are “somewhat liberal” or “moderate to conservative.”

Clinton has a 17-point lead among women and leads Sanders by 5 points among men.

Among voters in New York City, Clinton leads Brooklyn-born Sanders 53 to 37 percent. And 50 percent of upstate Democrats would back Clinton, 4 points more than Sanders.

The Quinnipiac University survey of 860 likely Democratic primary voters was conducted between April 6 and April 11 and has a 3.3 percentage point margin of error.