Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders nationwide by a crushing 25-point margin, though Sanders bests Clinton in a hypothetical general election match-up against GOP front-runner Donald Trump, two polls released Sunday by NBC News/Wall Street Journal have found.
The former secretary of state received 59% support from Democratic primary voters, while 34% support the Vermont senator. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley received 2% support.
The poll, released with a little more than two weeks to go before the first votes are cast in Iowa, also finds 79% of Democratic primary voters saying they could see themselves supporting Clinton, compared to 66% saying the same about Sanders.
Sanders, however, beats Clinton among voters who want a candidate who will bring change to current policies, 63% to 26%. But Clinton tops Sanders among voters who want experience and a “tested” candidate, 71% to 30%.
Overall, 61% of all voters — including Democrats, Republicans and independents — want a candidate who represents change, while 36% prefer experience.
The poll finds Clinton enjoying a significantly wider lead over Sanders than a CBS News/New York Times survey released last week, which found Clinton at 48% to 41% for Sanders. This was her lowest lead since before Vice President Joe Biden announced he would not run for president.
Sunday’s poll margin is also significantly more for Clinton than a Fox News survey released earlier this month which found her leading 54% to 39%.
One thing all three polls have in common: Clinton is leading Sanders.
A separate poll conducted by the two news outlets also found both Sanders and Clinton easily beating Trump in a hypothetical general election match-up, with Sanders’ 15-point advantage leading Clinton’s 10-point edge.
Sanders beats Trump 54% to 39%, while Clinton is up 51% to 41%.
The poll surveying the Democratic field asked 400 Democratic primary voters and was conducted January 9 through 13 with a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percentage points. The poll asking about a general election match-up surveyed 800 registered voters and was conducted over the same period with a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.
