http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/dem-primaries/shock-poll-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-virtually-tied-california-primaryJune 01, 2016, 05:14 pm
Poll: Sanders within 2 points of Clinton in California primary
By Jessie Hellmann
Hillary Clinton leads rival Bernie Sanders by just 2 points in California’s Democratic presidential primary, a new poll released Wednesday shows.
The NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll shows Clinton with 49 percent support to Sanders’s 47 percent.
California’s primary, which takes place Tuesday with 475 pledged delegates up for grabs, could have a huge impact on the race for the Democratic nomination.
Clinton has a large delegate lead over Sanders. But the Vermont senator hopes a win in California could convince the party's superdelegates to flip to supporting him ahead of the July nominating convention in July.
Clinton currently has 1,769 pledged delegates, with Sanders at 1,501, according to The Associated Press.
In addition, the former first lady has the support of 543 superdelegates; Sanders currently has 44.
In total, Clinton is about 70 delegates away from surpassing the 2,383 total needed to clinch the nomination.
Because superdelegates don’t officially vote until the convention, Sanders has pledged to fight up until the convention to convince superdelegates to flip.
Sanders has acknowledged his road to the nomination is a "narrow" one but has insisted he will stay in the race.
"Obviously, if we don't do well in California, it will make our path much, much harder. No question about it," Sanders said on "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
"But I think we have a good chance to win in California, maybe win big, and maybe win four or five of the other states that [hold races] on June 7."
In the poll, Clinton leads with older voters while Sanders leads among younger and first-time voters.
Sixty-three percent of respondents ages 45 and older said they will vote for Clinton, and just 33 percent said Sanders.
But among those younger than 45 years old, 66 percent support Sanders to just 30 percent for Clinton.
And Sanders had 72 percent support among first-time voters to 28 percent for Clinton.
"As throughout the primary season, age is the story in this California tossup," says Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.
"Sanders inspires younger or first-time voters, and Clinton relies upon those who are older or have participated in the past."
The poll was conducted May 29-31 among 557 likely Democratic primary voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
