With two weeks to go before Maryland’s presidential primary, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton lead their respective party rivals by double-digits, according to a new poll.
Trump leads Texas Sen. Ted Cruz by 12 points, 41-29, in a new NBC 4/Marist poll released late Tuesday night of likely Republican voters. Ohio Gov. John Kasich is third at 24 percent.
Among Republicans, Trump supporters are the most enthusiastic: 71 percent of his backers say they “strongly support” the billionaire businessman and overall GOP front-runner, compared to 51 percent for Cruz and 44 percent for Kasich.
“We’re seeing in Maryland a similar pattern as we’re seeing elsewhere, with Trump in the low 40s and then Cruz and Kasich dividing up the rest,” pollster Lee Miringoff said. “Trump is well positioned because the other two are dividing up the pie.”
On the Democratic side, Clinton leads Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders by 22 points, 58-36.
Sanders has 54 percent support from Democratic primary voters under 45 years old, compared to 41 percent for Clinton. But while he does well with younger voters, the overall Democratic front-runner beats Sanders strongly in other key demographics. Clinton bests Sanders in Maryland with self-described Democrats (63-41), African-Americans (63-30) and women (61-32).
Sanders does, however, have the support of roughly two-thirds of self-described independents.
The poll also found that either Democratic candidate would easily beat any of the Republican candidates in a hypothetical general election matchup, which is unsurprising given that Maryland is a reliable blue state.
In Maryland’s April 26 primary contest, 38 delegates are up for grabs on the GOP side. For Democrats, 95 delegates and an additional 23 super-delegates are at stake.
The poll was conducted April 5-9. Among 368 likely Republican primary voters the margin of error is plus or minus 5.1 percentage points; among 775 likely Democratic primary voters the margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
