Clinton narrows the gap in New Hampshire

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton on Thursday tightened the race for the New Hampshire primary, but she still trails rival candidate Bernie Sanders by 22 points in the state, according to a new UMass Lowell/7 News daily tracking poll.

{mosads}Sanders leads the race with 58 percent support, followed by Clinton’s 36 percent support ahead of the Feb. 9 primary.

But Clinton gained 4 points overnight, the biggest single gain in the daily poll since it began tracking, while Sanders dropped 3 points.

Sanders’s strength in New Hampshire stems from his support among young voters. He garners 87 percent support from those in the 18–29 demographic and 74 percent from those aged 30–39.

He is also favored by 67 percent of those whose family income is below $50,000 per year.

Self-identified liberals prefer Sanders at a 62 percent clip, compared to 35 percent for Clinton, while moderates still choose Sanders 54 percent of the time, compared to 40 percent for Clinton.

Clinton narrowly edged out Sanders in the Iowa caucuses on Monday, winning by a 0.2 percent margin.

The UMass Lowell/7 News tracking poll interviewed 420 likely Democratic primary voters and has a margin of error of 5.3 percent.