Poll: Clinton holds big lead over Sanders ahead of debate

by Jesse Byrnes - 12/18/15 10:07 AM ET

Hillary Clinton holds a commanding 31-point lead nationally over Democratic presidential rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll.

Clinton gets 59 percent of surveyed Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, while Sanders takes 28 percent support. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has 5 percent.

{mosads}That represents a 6-point drop for Sanders from the same poll in mid-November. Clinton has also ticked downward 1 point over the past month, while O’Malley has gained 2 points.

The survey comes on the eve of the third Democratic debate Saturday in New Hampshire, a key early-voting state where the race between Clinton and Sanders has been much closer. The last debate was after the Paris attacks in November.

Sanders’s campaign was dealt a blow heading into Saturday’s debate when it was reportedly revoked access to the Democrats’ voter database after a staffer allegedly accessed information compiled by the Clinton campaign.

Generally, the new poll on Friday finds Clinton having more of a trustworthiness deficit than Sanders, with 44 percent of leaning Democrats saying Sanders “is more honest and trustworthy,” while 38 percent held the former secretary of State over Sanders.

The survey of 1,002 U.S. adults was conducted Dec. 10-13 via landlines and cellphones with a margin of error of 3.5 points. The margin of error for the Democrats surveyed was 5.5 points.

Tags 2016 Democratic primary Bernie Sanders Democratic debates Hillary Clinton