Poll: Clinton pulls ahead of Sanders in NH

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has overtaken Democratic rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire, according to a new poll.

A Monmouth University survey released on Tuesday found Clinton with 48 percent over Sanders at 45 percent.

{mosads}The Vermont senator led in the same poll from September, but Clinton has been boosted by Vice President Biden’s decision to stay on the sidelines. In the previous poll, Sanders stood at 43 percent, Clinton at 36 percent, and Biden at 13 percent.

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley takes 3 percent support, unchanged from the previous poll.

While national polling shows Clinton with a huge lead, the polling in New Hampshire has been erratic.

A CBS/YouGov poll released late last month found Sanders with a 15-point lead, while a Public Policy Polling survey released at the same time found Clinton up by 8.

Sanders has big leads over Clinton among men, younger voters, independents and those who say they intend to vote for the first time in 2016.

But that’s not enough to overcome Clinton’s leads among women, older voters and the registered Democrats who make up the majority of the party’s primary voters.

“Sanders either has to convince more of these voters to support him or he has to turn out an unprecedented number of independents and brand new voters,” said Monmouth pollster Patrick Murray, who noted that the Granite State allows same-day voter registration.

Sanders led Clinton by 5 points among women in September, but Clinton now has a 19-point lead with this group.

Murray said the swing could be attributed to Clinton’s accusation that Sanders made a sexist remark in calling for people to stop “shouting” about gun control.

“This may be one reason why she has been able to win back women voters in her base,” Murray said.

Sanders has dismissed the accusation as absurd and accused Clinton of ripping his words out of context.

Sanders still has room to regain his lead in New Hampshire, as only 35 percent of voters say they have definitely decided on who they will support.

The Monmouth University survey of 403 likely Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire was conducted between Oct. 29 and Nov. 1 and has a 4.9 percentage point margin of error.