--- title: Hillary Clinton Keeping Lead Over Bernie Sanders, Poll Shows description: The Vermont senator has his work cut out at next week's Democratic debate canonical: https://time.com/4109817/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-poll-2/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-12T13:20:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:58.689Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hillary Clinton Keeping Lead Over Bernie Sanders, Poll Shows og:description: The Vermont senator has his work cut out at next week's Democratic debate og:url: https://time.com/4109817/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-poll-2/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6fa35cdad63b49f0/6988682f196cf49bef03882b/f019ebd66bd643a2ba4113c06a37c287-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4047 og:image:height: 2276 og:image:alt: APTOPIX DEM 2016 Debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hillary Clinton Keeping Lead Over Bernie Sanders, Poll Shows twitter:description: The Vermont senator has his work cut out at next week's Democratic debate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6fa35cdad63b49f0/6988682f196cf49bef03882b/f019ebd66bd643a2ba4113c06a37c287-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hillary Clinton Keeping Lead Over Bernie Sanders, Poll Shows > 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. ## Video: The Best Soundbites of Hillary Clinton in the First Democratic Debate [Watch (HLS stream): The Best Soundbites of Hillary Clinton in the First Democratic Debate](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UtLheLIU.m3u8) (1:11)  _Published 2015-10-14. Hillary Clinton emerged from the first Democratic presidential debate having given no ground to Bernie Sanders or her lesser-known rivals._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 12, 2015 1:20 PM UTC  Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont,, left, and Hillary Rodham Clinton laugh during the CNN Democratic presidential debate, on Oct. 13, 2015, in Las Vegas. Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont,, left, and Hillary Rodham Clinton laugh during the CNN Democratic presidential debate, on Oct. 13, 2015, in Las Vegas. John Locher—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 12, 2015 1:20 PM UTC Bernie Sanders may have his work cut out for him in the upcoming Democratic debate: a new poll shows Hillary Clinton is maintaining a significant lead over him. [According to the New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/12/poll-shows-hillary-clinton-maintaining-lead-over-sanders/), a NYT/CBS survey released Thursday shows Clinton with 52 percent of the vote and Sanders with 33 percent. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley registered with 5 percent. Former Secretary of State Clinton and Vermont Sen. Sanders’ numbers stayed relatively steady from an early October CBS poll, which had Clinton at 56 percent and Sanders at 32 percent. 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