Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are neck and neck just days before Saturday's Nevada caucuses, according to a new poll. Among likely caucus-goers in Nevada, 48 percent of respondents said that they supported Clinton, while 47 percent said that they supported Sanders, a new CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday shows.
Overall, Clinton holds advantages on most issues, as she is more trusted on foreign policy, race relations, immigration and health care, but likely caucus-goers are split 48 percent for Clinton and 47 percent for Sanders on the economy, The Hill reported. However, among those likely caucus-goers who call the economy their top issue in choosing a candidate, more support Sanders at 52 percent, compared to 43 percent for Clinton.
Sanders has closed the gap with this poll since the last time it was done in October. Clinton led in that poll by 16 points in October with a 50 to 34 percent margin.
However, it is unclear how representative the poll is. While Nevada is the third state in the Democratic primary schedule, it only has six public polls in the last year, The Wall Street Journal reported. In comparison, Iowa was polled nine times in January and almost 100 times in the year leading up to the early state's caucuses.
Another poll that was conducted by The Washington Free Beacon last week found a tie between the two Democratic candidates, as well, each sitting at 45 percent.
Nevada political columnist Jon Ralston said in a recent interview he doesn't trust the available polling in Nevada. "I don't consider those polls reliable or recent. The Clinton folks are saying it could be close and distorting Nevada's demographics (suddenly we are as white as Iowa and New Hampshire!) because they are worried about the Bernie surge. And I think they should be," Ralston told The Washington Post.
The CNN poll, which surveyed 282 likely Democratic voters in Nevada from Feb. 10-15, has a margin of error of six percent.
