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title: Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton Close in California Poll
description: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are in a tight race to win next month&#x27;s California primary
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article:published_time: 2016-05-26T15:16:48.000Z
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og:title: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in California Dead Heat
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# Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in California Dead Heat

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by 

[TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/)


## TIME Staff


May 26, 2016 3:16 PM UTC

by 

[TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/)


## TIME Staff


May 26, 2016 3:16 PM UTC

[Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders](http://time.com/bernie-sanders-2016-campaign/?xid=homepage) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are in a tight race to win next month’s California primary, according to a new poll that shows them in a virtual tie.

The survey, conducted by the [Public Policy Institute of California](http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/survey/S%5F516MBS.pdf), found that 46% of likely Democratic primary voters support Clinton, compared to 44% for Sanders. That’s inside the poll’s margin of error.

California’s June 7 vote is the next and final big contest in the Democratic primary, and with 475 delegates at stake, Sanders and Clinton are both campaigning in the state. Clinton is all-but assured the nomination due to her more-than 270-delegate lead. But Sanders is hoping to win as many delegates as possible in order to change the Democratic Party’s agenda, as he explained for [TIME’s cover story this week](http://time.com/bernie-sanders-2016-campaign/?xid=homepage). If he can win in California, Sanders said he can have greater leverage at the Democratic Party’s convention in July.

“Right now whether I win or lose, what I want to see is a transformation of the Democratic Party into a grassroots movement which is designed to represent the needs of working people, low-income people, young people, elderly people, rather than having such an extraordinary emphasis on wealthy campaign contributors,” Sanders told TIME in an extended [interview on Sunday in San Diego](http://time.com/4348664/bernie-sanders-time-interview-democratic-party-hillary-clinton/?xid=homepage).

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