New Poll Predicts Wider Margin Between Democratic Candidates In California

Days after a poll showed Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in a dead heat in California, a new poll finds a wide gap.

The Hoover Institution at Stanford University gives Clinton a 13-percentage point lead over Sanders among likely Democratic voters in its latest poll.

Hoover Institution research fellow and Republican political analyst Bill Whalen says he’s skeptical of the size of the lead.

"I’m not sure I buy into the idea of a 13-point lead for her, but I don’t think I’d buy into the idea of a 2-point lead," Whalen says. "Let’s split the difference and say it’s somewhere in between there." 

Whalen says it’s difficult to predict the turnout for key Sanders voting blocks of high school, college age, and No Party Preference voters.

An average of polls taken in the past two months has shown Clinton with an 8-point lead over Sanders, but with wide variances.