Poll: 'Home-Court Advantage' For Clinton, Trump Heading Into NY Primaries
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have "home-court advantage" with big leads in New York heading into the state's primaries in April, according to a new poll.
The poll released Thursday by Quinnipiac University finds Clinton ahead of Democratic rival Bernie Sanders 54 to 42 percent.
On the GOP side, Trump leads among Republicans at 56 percent followed by Ted Cruz and 20 percent and John Kasich at 19 percent, according to the poll.
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"The home-court advantage helps both party's front-runners in the presidential primaries in New York," Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Maurice Carroll said in a statement. "Donald Trump, whose name is emblazoned all over New York City buildings, trounces the other two Republicans, while Hillary Clinton, the adopted daughter from Chappaqua, leads Sanders in double digits on the Democratic side."
But in head-to-head general election matchups, the poll found Clinton and Sanders both top any Republican candidate.
Clinton tops out Trump 53 to 33 percent, Cruz 53 to 32 percent and Kasich 46 to 41 percent.
"In the general election match-up Clinton wipes out Sen. Ted Cruz or Trump, but there's some sentiment for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who trails Clinton by 5 points," Carrol said. "When she was New York's junior senator, Clinton worked hard to woo upstaters, but it's only astronomical leads in New York City that build her big overall margins. She trails Kasich and only edges Cruz and Trump upstate and in suburbia."
Sanders, meanwhile, beats Trump 56 to 32 percent, Cruz 56 to 28 percent and Kasich 47 to 37 percent.
The poll of 1,667 New York State voters was conducted from March 22 to 29 with a margin of error of +/- 2.4 percentage points. The survey includes 457 Republican likely primary voters with a margin of error of +/- 4.6 percentage points and 693 Democratic likely primary voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.7 percentage points.
For the full poll, click here.
