Poll: Democrat Race for the Nevada Caucus is Tight

By Cheri Cheng - 17 Feb '16 15:59PM

The Democrat race in Nevada is extremely close, a new CNN/ORC Poll reported Wednesday. The findings also have Donald Trump winning the Nevada caucus next week.

Overall, Hillary Clinton has 48 percent of the support with Bernie Sanders trailing by just one percent with 47 percent. According to the poll, both candidates would secure votes from their demographic strong points: women for Clinton and voters under the age of 55 for Sanders.

The poll added that the main issue for potential Democratic caucus goers will be how either candidate addresses the economy with 42 percent of them rating economy as their top issue. In terms of who likely caucus goers think has an edge in economy, Clinton came out on top with 48 percent but Sanders was not far behind with 47 percent.

However, when the poll asked the 42 percent of people whose top priority was economy who they supported, 52 percent said Sanders and 43 percent picked Clinton.

For the other issues, Clinton was perceived as being better on foreign policy, racial issues, immigration and health care. Sanders topped Clinton when potential caucus goers were asked who would help the middle class more.

The Nevada Caucus for the Democrats will be on Saturday, Feb. 20.

On the Republican side, the poll reported that Trump will win by a large margin. The billionaire, who is currently the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, has 45 percent of the support from those who will most likely go to the caucus. Behind Trump, there is a close race for second between Marco Rubio (19 percent) and Ted Cruz (17 percent). The Nevada Caucus for the Republicans will be held next Tuesday, Feb 23.

For the South Carolina caucus, which takes place on Feb. 20 for the Republicans and Feb. 27 for the Democrats, another CNN/ORC poll has Trump winning with 38 percent. The numbers also have Clinton beating Sanders with 56 percent.

Both polls, conducted via the phone, were based on answers gathered from Feb. 10 - Feb. 15 on 1,006 adult residents from each state.