California Poll: Clinton Up 18 Points Over Sanders

In California, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has a big lead over rival Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, according to the latest poll. But Sanders is hoping the Golden State’s unaffiliated voters will clinch him a victory.

In a SurveyUSA poll, Clinton leads Sanders 57 to 39 percent among 1,800 people who responded. This poll shows the widest margin for Clinton out of recent polls, most of which have her ahead of Sanders but by smaller leads.

The Real Clear Politics polling average has Clinton beating Sanders by 9.5 percent. A Fox News poll in April has Clinton beating Sanders by only 2 points, while a CBS News/YouGov poll has the former First Lady beating the Vermont Senator by 12 percent.

Sanders is hoping for a win in California, the nation’s largest state, to send a message to party establishment figures and superdelegates that he would be the safer bet to go against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. Although Clinton has a substantial delegate lead over Sanders, she is neck and neck with Trump in national polls while Sanders beats him handily.

Sanders is hoping that California’s semi-open primary, which allows unaffiliated voters to vote, will allow him to win enough independent voters to win the state. Sanders has done well in several past open primaries, including Michigan, a state that Clinton was widely expected to win, but lost because of Sanders’ overwhelming support among independents.

California has more than 4 million unaffiliated voters, which represents 23.8 percent of the state’s electorate, according to the Sacramento Bee. And among unaffiliated voters, Sanders beats Clinton by 10 points, according to an April Field poll.

A major opportunity for Sanders to narrow the gap between himself and Clinton came when she decided not to have a debate in California after agreeing to do one in April.

But Sanders has used Clinton’s refusal to debate him in his California stump speech.

“I think it’s a little insulting to the people of California — the largest state,” Sanders said at a rally in Santa Monica, CA, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“She is not prepared to have a discussion with me about how she is going to help California address the major crises we face,” he added.

“She’s scared! She’s scared!” the crowd chanted.

Sources: Survey USA, Real Clear Politics, The Sacramento Bee, Los Angeles Times / Photo credit: Marc Nozell/Flickr