--- description: Bernie Sanders closed in on Hillary Clinton's lead after the first two voting contests of the year, according to a new national poll title: Sanders Cuts Further Into Clinton's Lead in New National Poll image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01124e5d46031c57/69887e418e060160b1464ac4/sanders-clinton-debate-poll.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Bernie Sanders Cuts Further Into Hillary Clinton's Lead in New National Poll  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 19, 2016 12:53 AM CUT  Bernie Sanders (L) and Hillary Clinton participate in the PBS NewsHour Democratic presidential candidate debate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Feb. 11 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Bernie Sanders (L) and Hillary Clinton participate in the PBS NewsHour Democratic presidential candidate debate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Feb. 11 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Win McNamee/ Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 19, 2016 12:53 AM CUT Bernie Sanders [closed in on Hillary Clinton’s lead](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/bernie-sanders-cuts-hillary-clinton-s-national-lead-poll-n520926 "undefined") after the first two voting contests of the year, according to a new national poll. The NBC News/_Wall Street Journal_ survey showed that Clinton still maintains a double-digit lead over the Vermont Senator, receiving support from 53% of Democratic primary voters. Sanders, who was 25 points behind Clinton last month, was backed by 42% of Democratic primary voters in the new poll. Clinton leads Sanders among minorities, women and primary voters over the age of 50\. Sanders leads Clinton among white men, independents and primary voters under the age of 50, according to the poll. Both candidates have been working to [court minority voters](http://time.com/4226723/bernie-sanders-black-voters-south-carolina/ "undefined") as the South Carolina primary and Nevada caucuses approach. Nevada, which holds its Democratic caucuses on Saturday, has a [large Latino population](http://time.com/4228654/clinton-campaign-ad-nevada-caucuses/ "undefined"). The poll surveyed 400 Democratic primary voters between Feb. 14 and 16\. The margin of error was +/– 4.9 percentage points. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4230158/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-national-poll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4230158/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-national-poll/"},"headline":"Bernie Sanders Cuts Further Into Hillary Clinton's Lead in New National Poll","datePublished":"2016-02-19T00:53:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:12:37.704Z","description":"Sanders has done well with voters in New Hampshire and Iowa","url":"https://time.com/4230158/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-national-poll/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01124e5d46031c57/69887e418e060160b1464ac4/sanders-clinton-debate-poll.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01124e5d46031c57/69887e418e060160b1464ac4/sanders-clinton-debate-poll.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"<> on February 11, 2016 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.","caption":"Bernie Sanders (L) and Hillary Clinton participate in the PBS NewsHour Democratic presidential candidate debate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Feb. 11 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.","creditText":"Win McNamee/ Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4230158/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-national-poll/","name":"Bernie Sanders Cuts Further Into Hillary Clinton's Lead in New National Poll"}}]}] ```