Poll: Sanders cuts Clinton’s national lead by half

Presidential contender Bernie Sanders is cutting into Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s lead nationwide, a new poll released Thursday finds.

The NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey finds Clinton with a 53 percent to 42 percent lead over the Vermont senator. But Sanders has cut her lead in half since the start of the year.

{mosads}The same poll found Clinton leading Sanders by 25 points in January, with 59 percent support to 34 percenet. That poll was followed by Clinton pulling out a slim victory in the Iowa caucuses and Sanders delivering a resounding win in New Hampshire.

In the new poll, the former secretary of State holds double-digit leads over Sanders among minorities, women and primary voters over the age of 50, as well as those that identify as Democrats. Sanders leads among white males, independents and voters under 50.

Other recent polls have found Sanders closing the gap on Clinton’s lead nationwide.

A Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday found the Democratic hopefuls in a dead heat.

The NBC/WSI poll was conducted from Feb. 14-16 and surveyed 400 Democratic primary voters. The margin of error was 4.9 percentage points.