Poll: Clinton holds 18-point lead in SC

Hillary Clinton holds an 18-point lead over her Democratic presidential rival Bernie Sanders in the latest South Carolina poll released Tuesday afternoon.

Clinton is supported by 56 percent of likely Democratic primary voters in the Palmetto State ahead of its Feb. 27 primary, compared to 38 percent support for Sanders, according to the CNN/ORC poll.

{mosads}African-American voters and women boost Clinton’s lead in the state. Black voters split 65 to 28 percent for Clinton and female voters split 60 to 33 percent in her favor.

Meanwhile, a majority of white voters in the state, 54 percent, support Sanders, with 40 percent backing Clinton, Men are more evenly split, 49 to 45 percent in Sanders’s favor.

Sanders has sought to cut into Clinton’s big lead in the state by making inroads with black voters following his huge win in New Hampshire last week. Clinton narrowly took the Iowa caucuses earlier this month.

The candidates are battling in Nevada ahead of that state’s Feb. 20 caucus before turning their focus to South Carolina a week later.

The survey of 280 likely Democratic primary voters was conducted Feb. 10-15 via telephone and has a 6-point margin of error.