--- title: Poll: Hillary Clinton Won the Democratic Debate description: A majority of Democrats who watched last week's debate said that former secretary of state Hillary Clinton won the first contest canonical: https://time.com/4078484/hillary-clinton-won-democratic-debate-poll/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-19T17:40:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:43:44.901Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hillary Clinton Won the Democratic Debate, Poll Finds og:description: 62% of Democrats said that Hillary Clinton was the winner, compared to 35% for Bernie Sanders og:url: https://time.com/4078484/hillary-clinton-won-democratic-debate-poll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e2fed6d45463e13/698868e2ab6d771af16a6bc5/hillary-clinton8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: DEM 2016 Debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hillary Clinton Won the Democratic Debate, Poll Finds twitter:description: 62% of Democrats said that Hillary Clinton was the winner, compared to 35% for Bernie Sanders twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e2fed6d45463e13/698868e2ab6d771af16a6bc5/hillary-clinton8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hillary Clinton Won the Democratic Debate, Poll Finds > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Oct 19, 2015 5:40 PM UTC  Hillary Rodham Clinton smiles during the CNN Democratic presidential debate, in Las Vegas, on Oct. 13, 2015. Hillary Rodham Clinton smiles during the CNN Democratic presidential debate, in Las Vegas, on Oct. 13, 2015.John Locher—AP by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Oct 19, 2015 5:40 PM UTC A majority of Democrats who watched last week’s debate said that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won in her first head-on encounter with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, [according to a CNN poll](http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2462140-debate-democrats.html#document/p2). Fully 62% of Democrats polled said that Clinton was the winner, while 35% said that Sanders won. Just 1% each said former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb won. Clinton had prepared for weeks for the first debate of the Democratic presidential primary contest, and firmly attacked Sanders’ record on gun control early, saying he had not gone far enough on the issue. She also criticized his admiration for Denmark, saying, “We are not Denmark. I love Denmark. We are the United States of America and it’s our job to rein in the excesses of capitalism so it doesn’t run amok.” Many Sanders supporters believe he won the debate, and Sanders’ campaign has argued he did important work in putting economic issues front and center on the stage in Las Vegas last week. Despite the consensus that Clinton won the debate, national polls of the Democratic primary do not appear to have moved significantly, with Clinton’s margin over Sanders shrinking by one percentage point. Clinton leads Sanders in national polls, 45% to 29%. The results for who won the debate have a margin of error of 7.5%, and the overall primary poll has a margin of error of 5%. ### Decoding Hillary Clinton's Campaign Photo Ops  Des Moines, IA - April 15: Hillary Clinton began her 2016 campaign by driving from her house in Chappaqua, N.Y., to Iowa in a van instead of flying, as she did in 2008. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  Marshalltown, IA - April 15: Clinton had coffee and spoke with customers during her first Iowa visit. Many of her advisors think she performs best in small groups with voters, so her campaign began with a carefully planned “listening tour." Michael B. Thomas—AFP/Getty Images  Monticello, IA - April 14: At a community college in Iowa, Clinton said exactly what the left wanted her to say. "There's something wrong when hedge fund managers pay lower tax rates than nurses or the truckers that I saw on I-80 as I was driving here," Clinton said. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  Keene, N.H. - April 20: Clinton’s first good baby photo-op came early in New Hampshire in the town of Keene. Her campaign has made multiple references to her new status as a grandmother. Lucas Jackson—Reuters  Keene, N.H. - April 20: Clinton visited a family-owned children’s furniture factory to talk small business and manufacturing. Planks of wood, stacked boxes and heavy machinery formed an ideal backdrop. Don Emmert—AFP/Getty Images  Keene, N.H. - April 20: Clinton chose a casual setting to brush off questions over the Clinton Foundation’s acceptance of donations during her time as secretary of state. She called allegations that she intervened on behalf of donors “distractions.” Don Emmert—AFP/Getty Images  Concord, N.H. - April 21: Clinton got a chance to talk student debt with young women at a community college in Concord, New Hampshire. “You cannot expect people to have that much debt and then be expected to pay it off,” she said. Andrew Burton—Getty Images  Concord, N.H. - April 21: Clinton paid her dues with a required visit for Democratic hopefuls in New Hampshire: a gathering at the home of 94-year-old former state Sen. Mary Louise Hancock, the so-called grand dame of New Hampshire politics. Jim Cole—AP  Las Vegas, NV - May 5: Clinton discussed immigration with a roundtable in Las Vegas, Nevada, a primary state with a heavy population of Hispanic immigrants, calling for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. 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