Poll: Clinton expands lead over Sanders in NC

Hillary Clinton’s lead over the Democratic presidential field has grown by 10 points in North Carolina since September, a new poll says.

Clinton now has her highest Democratic primary voter support in the Tar Heel State since May, according to the Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey.

{mosads}The poll shows Clinton ahead with 61 percent support in the state, versus 24 percent for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), her closest competitor.

Former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-Md.), meanwhile, draws 5 percent voter support, while Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig registers at 2 percent.

PPP noted that Clinton scored 51 percent support in North Carolina last month, compared with 23 percent for Sanders.

Her growing lead in the state might partly be due to the decision of Vice President Joe Biden to forgo a White House run. He was seen as being a potentially strong challenger to Clinton.

Clinton may also be enjoying a boost from strong performances during last week’s congressional hearing on Benghazi and the first Democratic presidential debate.

“Between the debate, Vice President Biden not running and her performance in the Benghazi hearing, Hillary Clinton’s numbers are on the rise,” said Dean Debnam, president of PPP, in a statement Tuesday.

“Her standing in North Carolina is back to what it was in the spring before Bernie Sanders really caught fire,” he added.

Tuesday’s results also show Clinton with high favorability ratings in the Palmetto State.

She has a 67 percent favorability rating and a 24 percent unfavorable rating, PPP said. An additional 9 percent said they are unsure.

Sanders registers as voters’ most frequent second choice in North Carolina.

Pollsters found that 27 percent would pick him second, contrasted with 11 percent who would select Clinton instead.

PPP surveyed 421 Democratic primary voters in North Carolina from Oct. 23 to Oct. 25.  It has a 4.8 percent margin of error.

North Carolina is one of 13 primaries and caucuses on March 1, the Super Tuesday of the 2016 race.

Clinton is slowly regaining ground she lost amid Sanders’s surging popularity earlier this summer.

She is ahead of the Vermont lawmaker everywhere besides the early-voting state of New Hampshire, where Sanders leads Clinton by more than 2 points.