- The Washington Times - Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton and rival Sen. Bernard Sanders both lead GOP front-runner Donald Trump in head-to-head matchups in North Carolina, according to a poll from Elon University released Tuesday.

Mrs. Clinton led Mr. Trump by 6 points, 45 percent to 39 percent, while Mr. Sanders led by an even greater 13-point margin, 51 percent to 38 percent.

Mr. Sanders also led Sen. Ted Cruz by 10 points, 49 percent to 39 percent, while Mr. Cruz held a 3-point, 44 percent to 41 percent advantage over Mrs. Clinton.

Mr. Trump won the GOP presidential primary in the state last month by about 3 points over Mr. Cruz, while Mrs. Clinton scored a double-digit win over Mr. Sanders on the Democratic side.

Mr. Trump has talked about putting states such as New York and Pennsylvania in play for the GOP in the fall general election, but a loss for Republicans in North Carolina would be a big blow to the GOP’s electoral college math.

President Obama narrowly carried North Carolina in 2008, but lost the state to 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney in the last presidential election.

Mr. Obama had a 43 percent job approval rating in the poll, with about 47 percent disapproving.

• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.

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