Bernie Sanders leads Hillary Clinton by 7 points in N.H.: poll

Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont has a 7-point lead in New Hampshire over former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, according to a poll released Tuesday.

Mr. Sanders had the support of 43 percent of likely Democratic primary voters in the Monmouth University poll, followed by 36 percent for Mrs. Clinton.

Mrs. Clinton’s sizable leads in national polls on the 2016 Democratic presidential nominating contest have been shrinking lately, and Mr. Sanders has opened up a roughly 11-point lead on Mrs. Clinton in the latest Real Clear Politics average of public polling on New Hampshire, and has drawn even with her in the latest RCP average on Iowa.

“When we began this campaign, the polls had us at like 3 percent or 5 percent — 80, 85 percent of the American people didn’t even know who Bernie Sanders was, let alone what I’m trying to do and the views that we’re espousing and the changes we want to see,” Mr. Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist, said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.”

“And I believe that the more the American people become familiar with the issues that we are fighting for, I think you’re going to see us do better and better in the weeks and months to come,” he said.

Mr. Sanders led Mrs. Clinton among both men (44 percent to 34 percent) and women (42 percent to 38 percent), as well as among voters under 50 years old (46 percent to 35 percent) and voters ages 50-64 (44 percent to 34 percent).

Mrs. Clinton had a 42 percent to 35 percent lead over Mr. Sanders among people ages 65 and older.

Mrs. Clinton had a 4-point, 43 percent to 39 percent lead among registered Democrats, while Mr. Sanders had a 49 percent to 26 percent lead over Mrs. Clinton among registered independents and new voters.

“Sanders has certainly cut into Clinton’s core constituencies, but his ultimate success may ride on how many new voters he can get to the polls,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, New Jersey. “Either way, it looks like most Democratic voters will be able to live with however this nomination contest turns out.”

Just 19 percent of Democrats said they would be very unhappy if someone other than their chosen candidate ended up winning the party’s nomination, compared to 23 percent who said they would be a little unhappy and half who said they would be okay with whoever won the campaign.

Thirteen percent chose Vice President Joseph R. Biden, who has not yet announced his 2016 plans.

When the second choices of Biden supporters were reallocated, Mr. Sanders still led Mrs. Clinton by 7 points, 48 percent to 41 percent.

Mr. Sanders was the best-liked candidate or possible candidate among Granite State Democrats, with an 83 percent favorable/7 percent unfavorable split.

Mr. Biden had an 80 percent/7 percent favorable/unfavorable split, and Mrs. Clinton had a 77 percent/17 percent split.

Unlike some polling that has shown Republican voters saying they prefer a Washington outsider to be the next president, 62 percent of the Democrats polled said the country needs a president with government experience who knows how to get things done, compared to 23 percent who said they prefer someone outside of government who can bring a new approach to Washington.

“As a career-long independent and ranking member of the Senate budget committee, Sanders possesses the combination of new ideas and Washington know-how that Democratic voters see as a positive,” Mr. Murray said.

The survey of 400 likely Democratic primary voters was taken Sept. 10-13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.