Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has tightened her grip on the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination in the wake of last week’s debate, according to poll numbers released Tuesday that also showed nearly four in 10 Democratic voters think Vice President Joseph R. Biden should not enter the race.
Mrs. Clinton was at 49 percent support in the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, up from 42 percent last month, while Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont was at 29 percent, down from 35 percent. Mr. Biden, who has not yet announced his 2016 intentions, was at 15 percent, down 17 percent from last month.
Without Mr. Biden in the race, Mrs. Clinton’s lead over Mr. Sanders grew to 25 points, 58 percent to 33 percent. Last month, she led Mr. Sanders in a head-to-head match-up by 15 points, 53 percent to 38 percent.
Democratic voters were split on whether they wanted to see Mr. Biden enter the race. Thirty-eight percent said they would prefer that he not run, compared to 30 percent who said they would like to see him run and 31 percent who didn’t have an opinion.
The survey of 400 Democratic primary voters taken Oct. 15-18 has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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