Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton holds a sizable lead in the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, according to a national poll conducted in the wake of last Tuesday’s Democratic debate in Las Vegas.
Mrs. Clinton had the support of 48 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters in the Monmouth University poll released Monday — up from 42 percent last month.
Sen. Bernie Sanders was at 21 percent, basically the same as his 20 percent support last month. And Vice President Joseph R. Biden was at 17 percent — down from 22 percent last month.
If Mr. Biden’s supporters are reallocated without him in the race, Mrs. Clinton had a 57 percent to 24 percent lead over Mr. Sanders.
“The specter of a Biden candidacy still hangs over this race, but Clinton can take comfort that she has appeared to win back some support with a solid debate performance,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
Among those who saw at least part of Tuesday’s debate in Las Vegas, 34 percent actually said Mr. Sanders surprised them with a better-than-expected performance, compared to 29 percent who said the same of Mrs. Clinton. But among the approximately half of Democratic voters who did not watch any of the debate, 26 percent were under the impression that Mrs. Clinton did better than expected, while 16 percent said the same of Mr. Sanders.
A separate CNN/ORC poll released Monday showed it was Mr. Sanders, and not Mrs. Clinton, who got a bit more of a post-debate bump, though Mrs. Clinton still held a sizable lead in that poll as well.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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