While he is making strides at the national level and in key states like Iowa and New Hampshire, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is not making up as much ground on former U.S. Sec. of State Hillary Clinton in Florida, a new poll shows.

On Wednesday, Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) Business & Economics Polling Initiative (BEPO) released a poll looking at the Democratic presidential primary and shows Clinton retains a strong lead over Sanders though the Vermont senator has inched up and closed the gap slightly.

Clinton takes 62 percent in the poll while Sanders garners 26 percent. Former Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland remains in very distant third with 4 percent. The poll shows 5 percent of Florida Democrats back other candidates in the race while 2 percent remain undecided.

“Clinton continues to hold a solid lead on the Democratic side in Florida,” insisted Monica Escaleras, director of the BEPI, on Wednesday.

In November, FAU took a poll which had Clinton ahead with 66 percent with Sanders pulling 23 percent and O’Malley pulling 4 percent. That poll was taken when Vice President Joe Biden was still considering whether to make a third attempt to win the Democratic presidential nomination. When Biden was included in the poll, Clinton led with 60 percent followed by Biden with 16 percent, Sanders with 15 percent and O’Malley slipping back to 2 percent.

The poll of 383 likely Florida Democratic primary voters was taken from Jan. 15-Jan. 18 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percent.

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN

