Hillary Clinton poised to defeat Bernie Sanders in California's presidential primary, SurveyUSA poll shows

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are seen in undated file images.
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are seen in undated file images.
AP-AP

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Hillary Clinton is well positioned to defeat Bernie Sanders in California's presidential primary, according to an exclusive Eyewitness News poll conducted by SurveyUSA.

The poll results, released on Monday, showed that Clinton would defeat Sanders 57 percent to 39 percent. The results of the poll showed that Sanders continues to lead among the youngest voters, while Clinton leads by 12 points among voters age 35 to 49.

The poll showed that Clinton also leads by 34 points among voters age 50 to 64, and she leads by 45 points among voters age 65 and above.

Also, Clinton has majority support among every income group, while Sanders leads by 2:1 among first-time primary voters.

Results from a SurveyUSA poll released earlier this month showed that 54 percent of registered Republican voters are resigned to vote for Donald Trump and 57 percent of registered Democratic voters are resigned to vote for Clinton.

The latest poll results indicate that Clinton carries California 52 percent to Trump's 38 percent.

To date, Clinton leads Trump by 14 points. In comparison, Barack Obama carried California by 24 points in 2008 and by 23 points in 2012. For Trump, the survey shows a gender gap. The business mogul is losing California by 3 points among men and 25 points among women.

Another notable figure in the survey results involves Clinton's negatives. Among Democrats who told SurveyUSA they are paying "a lot" of attention to the 2016 election, Clinton defeats Trump in California by 9 points, 50 percent to 41 percent. Trump's negatives have remained constant over the past three polls conducted in California by SurveyUSA, whereas Clinton's negatives have increased over the same period.

In the race for Barbara Boxer's U.S. Senate seat, Attorney General Kamala Harris and Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Orange County are likely to advance to a runoff in the November general election. The poll showed Harris leading Sanchez 31 percent to 22 percent, respectively.

Both candidates are Democrats, which gives Republicans little chance to snag Boxer's seat. The three Republican candidates in the primary combine to receive 25 percent of the primary vote.

Below are the findings from the latest SurveyUSA poll:

1. Primary voters will be asked to vote for a candidate for United States Senator. If you were filling out your ballot in the United States Senate primary now, who would you vote for? (candidate names rotated) Republican Tom Del Beccaro? Republican Duf Sundheim? Republican Ron Unz? Democrat Kamala Harris? Democrat Loretta Sanchez? Or one of the other candidates?

9% Del Beccaro (R)

9% Sundheim (R)

7% Unz (R)

31% Harris (D)

22% Sanchez (D

7% Other

15% Undecided

9% Del Beccaro (R)

2. If you were filling out your Democratic Primary ballot for President of the United States right now, who would you vote for in the Democratic Primary? (candidate names rotated) Hillary Clinton? Or Bernie Sanders?

57% Hillary Clinton

39% Bernie Sanders

4% Undecided

3. If the November general election for President of the United States were today, and the only two candidates on the ballot were Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, who would you vote for?

38% Donald Trump (R)

52% Hillary Clinton (D)

10% Undecided

4. Regardless of who you may vote for, is your opinion of Hillary Clinton ... extremely positive? Positive? Neutral? Negative? Or extremely negative?

14% Extremely Positive

25% Positive

16% Neutral

15% Negative

30% Extremely Negative

1% No Opinion

5. Regardless of who you may vote for, is your opinion of Bernie Sanders ... extremely positive? Positive? Neutral? Negative? Or extremely negative?

18% Extremely Positive

24% Positive

28% Neutral

17% Negative

13% Extremely Negative

1% No Opinion

6. Regardless of who you may vote for, is your opinion of Donald Trump ... extremely positive? Positive? Neutral? Negative? Or extremely negative?

11% Extremely Positive

16% Positive

11% Neutral

13% Negative

48% Extremely Negative

1% No Opinion

For this poll, SurveyUSA interviewed 1,800 state of California adults from May 19 through May 22. Of the adults, 1,598 were registered to vote in the state of California.

Of the California registered voters, 803 were determined by SurveyUSA to be likely to vote in the June 7 Democratic Presidential primary, 1,416 were determined to be likely to vote in the June 7 open, non-partisan U.S. Senate primary, and 1,383 were determined to be likely to vote in the Nov. 8 general election for president.

Monday is the last day to register to vote in California. For more information, visit registertovote.ca.gov.