Former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton is by far the Democratic front-runner in the race for 2016, but her lead has narrowed in recent months, a new poll has found.
According to a Monmouth University poll conducted July 9 to 12 of 1,001 adults, Vermont independent Bernie Sanders has made steady gains even though he trails by a significant margin.
Clinton's standing among Democrats and Democrat-leaning voters is at 51 percent. That's a decline from April when her support stood at 60 percent, and 57 percent in June.
Sanders came in a distant second with 17 percent support, followed by Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, who each have 1 percent support. Former Rhode Island governor and senator Lincoln Chafee is at 0 percent.
"Most people seem to be focusing on a Sanders surge among the liberal wing of the party. But the bigger threat to Clinton may come from a Biden candidacy, where the two would be fighting for the same voters," Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement.
Vice President Joe Biden,
who is reportedly weighing his political future, finds himself at 12 percent support in the poll, in line with previous surveys. The poll found that his support would grow if he chose to throw his hat into the ring. Specifically, an additional 12 percent say they would be very likely to support him and 31 percent say they would be somewhat likely.
According to the survey, 68 percent of Biden's support would come from Clinton's backers, while 18 percent said they are supporting another candidate. Fourteen percent are undecided.
The vast majority of Democrats view Clinton favorably: 74 percent of Democratic voters have a favorable view compared to just 17 percent who have an unfavorable view, giving her the highest favorability ratings among her rivals.
By comparison, Biden has a 67 percent favorability rating versus 17 percent who have an unfavorable view. Sanders has seen his rating increase since June and currently stands at 36 percent favorable compared to 12 percent unfavorable. Last month his favorability rating was 29 percent to 18 percent.
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