Poll: Clinton holds 2-1 lead over Sanders in South Carolina

by Jesse Byrnes - 02/18/16 11:36 AM ET

Hillary Clinton leads Democratic presidential rival Bernie Sanders by 29 points in South Carolina ahead of the state’s primary next week, according to a new poll.

Clinton has the support of 59 percent of likely Democratic primary voters, and Sanders has 30 percent, according the Monmouth University poll released Thursday.

{mosads}Despite the large lead, the latest poll shows how the race has tightened between Clinton and Sanders: the former secretary of State led the Independent Vermont senator by 48 points in November.

Sanders campaigned in the Palmetto State this week with those affected by police use of force, part of his outreach to black voters in the state who have overwhelmingly supported Clinton.

In the Monmouth poll, Clinton leads among black voters under the age of 50 by a 34-point margin, while Sanders leads Clinton 48 percent to 44 percent among voters in general under the age of 50 .

A majority of Clinton backers, 56 percent, as well as 37 percent of Sanders supporters, say they have completely made up their minds yet ahead of the Feb. 27 primary.

The poll comes on the heels of a CNN survey released earlier this week that similarly found Clinton with a big lead over Sanders, though by a smaller margin of 18 points.

The survey of 403 likely Democratic primary voters was conducted Feb. 14–16 with a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points.

Tags 2016 Democratic primary 2016 South Carolina primary Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton South Carolina