Joey Garrison

USA Today Network - Tennessee

A poll this week of likely Democratic primary voters in Tennessee found Hillary Clinton crushing Bernie Sanders in the Volunteer State, in large part because of a commanding lead among African-American voters.

The poll, released by Public Policy Polling on Wednesday as part of a survey of 12 states that hold Democratic primaries between March 1 and March 8, found Clinton the choice of 58 percent of likely Tennessee Democratic voters, compared with 32 percent for Sanders.

Clinton is leading in 10 of the 12 states, according to the surveys, and holds wide leads in eight states, including Tennessee, in the South. The polls were commissioned by American Family Voices, a left-leaning advocacy organization.

The Tennessee poll, a phone survey of 500 likely Tennessee Democratic primary voters, was taken Feb. 14-16. It has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

Tennessee's Democratic and Republican primaries are set for March 1. Early voting began last week and continues until Tuesday.

Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, leads Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, among black voters in Tennessee by an overwhelming 74 percent to 15 percent margin. Thirty-five percent of those polled in Tennessee identified themselves as African-American.

Sanders is leading in only two states that vote between March 1 and March 8, according to the poll: Massachusetts by 7 percentage points and his home state of Vermont by 76 percentage points.

Clinton’s lead in Tennessee is consistent with the type of lead she holds in other Southern states. They include:

Alabama: Clinton, 59 percent; Sanders, 31 percent.

Arkansas: Clinton, 57 percent; Sanders, 32 percent.

Georgia: Clinton, 60 percent; Sanders, 26 percent.

Louisiana: Clinton, 60 percent; Sanders, 29 percent.

Mississippi: Clinton, 60 percent; Sanders, 26 percent.

Virginia: Clinton, 56 percent; Sanders, 34 percent.

Texas: Clinton, 57 percent; Sanders, 34 percent.

Other states where Clinton leads, according to the poll, are Michigan (by 10 percentage points) and Oklahoma (by 2 percentage points).

Clinton's lead among black voters in states with black populations that exceed the national average is 40 percentage points or greater, according to the poll.

The Tennessee poll found Clinton beating Sanders across the board among all voters broken down by their top issues:

Who they most trust to be commander in chief: Clinton, 73; Sanders, 20 percent.

Race relations: Clinton, 57 percent; Sanders, 27 percent.

Immigration: Clinton, 53 percent; Sanders, 28 percent.

Women’s issues: Clinton, 71 percent; Sanders, 19 percent.

Clinton carried Tennessee in the 2008 Democratic primary by a 54 percent to 40 percent margin over Barack Obama.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.