Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign rally in Cathedral City, Calif., on May 25. | AP Photo Poll: Sanders nearly pulls even with Clinton in California

Bernie Sanders is running neck and neck with Hillary Clinton in next week’s California Democratic presidential primary, according to a new poll released Wednesday afternoon.

The NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll shows Sanders just 2 percentage points behind Clinton, who leads 49 percent to 47 percent — well within the poll’s 4.2-percentage-point margin of error.


In the closely watched, all-party primary to replace retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer, two Democrats are poised to advance to the general election.

Sanders, as in other states, is buoyed by younger voters and independents.

The poll, which was conducted May 29-31 — mostly over Memorial Day weekend — shows Sanders with a commanding advantage with voters younger than 30, 80 percent to 19 percent. Extended to voters under 45, Sanders’ lead stands at 66 percent to 30 percent.

But Clinton holds big leads among older voters, outpacing Sanders with those 45 and older, 63 percent to 33 percent.

The other major cleavage is party identification: Self-identified Democrats go for Clinton by a 17-point margin, 57 percent to 40 percent. Independents break for Sanders by an even wider margin, 68 percent to 26 percent.

That’s also reflected in crosstabs on past Democratic primary participation: Clinton leads among past participants, 53 percent to 42 percent. But among the 15 percent of likely primary voters who haven’t participated in the past, Sanders leads, 72 percent to 28 percent.

The survey is the first new poll in California conducted over the past week and a half — and it’s the second survey to show Clinton and Sanders running close, after a Public Policy Institute of California poll that also had Clinton up by just 2 points. Other surveys show Clinton with a larger lead.

The Field Poll, which has surveyed California for decades, is planning to release its pre-primary poll on Thursday.

Meanwhile, in the Senate race, Attorney General Kamala Harris leads Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a fellow Democrat, 37 percent to 19 percent. The three Republican candidates lag in the single digits, with former state GOP chairman Tom Del Beccaro in third place at 8 percent.

The poll surveyed 984 likely all-party primary voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Of those, 557 are likely to vote in the Democratic presidential primary.