Hillary Clinton has healthy leads over Bernie Sanders in Florida and Ohio, where voters will cast ballots in Democratic primaries on March 15, according to a new poll.
{mosads}A Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday found Clinton crushing Sanders 62 to 32 in the Sunshine State.
Here, Clinton is boosted by a huge lead among women voters, who support her 69 percent to 24 percent over Sanders. Clinton also has an 8-point lead among men, and even has the advantage over the democratic socialist among those who describe themselves as “very liberal.”
Young voters have been Sanders’s bread and butter, but he and Clinton are tied among those under the age of 44 in Florida, each taking 49 percent.
“Secretary Hillary Clinton has doubled-up on Sen. Bernie Sanders in Florida,” said Quinnipiac poling director Peter A. Brown. “With less than a week until the actual voting, it is difficult to see a path to victory for him in the Sunshine State. He just has too much ground to make up and not enough time in which to do it.”
In Ohio, Clinton’s lead is narrower. She takes 52 percent support against 43 percent for Sanders.
There is a significant gender gap between the candidates in the Buckeye State, with Sanders leading by 9 points among men, and Clinton leading by 25 points among women.
The age gap is also demonstrative here, with Sanders taking 65 percent support among younger voters, and Clinton taking 64 percent among older voters.
Sanders leads among those who are “very liberal” by about 20 points, but Clinton holds the same lead among those who are only “somewhat liberal.”
The survey found that a strong majority of voters in both states have already made up their minds.
In Florida, only 6 percent said they remain undecided, while 16 percent said they’re still open to persuasion. In Ohio, those figures are 5 percent and 17 percent, respectively.
“In both states, the number of undecided voters is smaller than her lead, meaning that to
be victorious Sanders has to get all the undecideds and then take Clinton voters away from her,” said Brown.
Democrats award their delegates proportionally, with 214 up for grabs in Florida and 143 in Ohio; 2,382 delegates are needed to win the nomination.
The Quinnipiac University survey of 511 likely Democratic primary voters in Florida was conducted between March 2 and March 7 and has a 4.3 percentage point margin of error. The survey of 521 likely Democratic primary voters in Ohio has a 4.3 percentage point margin of error.