Poll: Sanders nearly tied with Clinton nationwide

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has dramatically cut into the nationwide lead of primary rival Hillary Clinton, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.

{mosads}The poll released Friday finds Clinton leading the race with 44 percent support, compared to 42 percent support for Sanders, within the survey’s margin of error.

The last iteration of the poll in December had Clinton leading Sanders nationwide 61–30.

“Democrats nationwide are feeling the Bern as Sen. Bernie Sanders closes a 31-point gap to tie Secretary Hillary Clinton,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

The poll also finds that Sanders matches up better with top Republican primary candidates than Clinton.

In head-to-head matchups, the Vermont senator leads GOP front-runner Donald Trump by 10 points, edges Ted Cruz by 4 points and ties Marco Rubio.

While Clinton still tops Trump by 5 points, she ties Cruz and trails Rubio by 7 points.

The poll also finds that Clinton has a net favorability rating of negative 17, only besting Trump in that category, who has a negative-25 favorability rating.

Sanders has a 9-point favorability rating nationwide, only trailing Rubio, at 14 points.

The poll surveyed 484 Democrats and has a margin of error of 4.5 percent.