Getty Poll: Hillary Clinton crushing Bernie Sanders in South Carolina

Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead over Bernie Sanders in South Carolina, according to the results of a new poll released Tuesday.

Clinton has the support of 69 percent of likely voters in South Carolina's Democratic primary, while the independent Vermont senator trails with just 21 percent, according to the latest Monmouth University Poll. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley barely registers, with just 1 percent support.


South Carolina's Democratic primary is open to supporters of other parties, including Republicans and independents. When the poll's respondents are limited to self-described Democrats likely to vote in the primary, Clinton's lead is ever higher: 74 percent to Sanders' 16 percent.

The former secretary of state, who lost the 2008 South Carolina primary to then-Sen. Barack Obama, leads with African Americans — three out of four believe she would do an “excellent” or “good” job as president. Just over half feel the same about Sanders.

Clinton also has high favorable ratings (81 percent) compared with 7 percent unfavorable. Sanders has a 58 percent favorability rating, with 13 unfavorable and O’Malley has 18 percent favorable, 18 percent unfavorable.

Sanders' campaign put a positive spin on the results. "We’re very excited about the new Monmouth University poll," said Sanders' South Carolina state director Chris Covert in a statement. "The poll solidifies what we’ve been saying for the past few months: South Carolina voters remain undecided. Two-thirds of voters have not decided on their choice and nearly a third have no opinion of Senator Sanders."

Covert said the "tide is turning" in South Carolina, and that the campaign is beginning a radio ad geared toward African-American voters in major markets.

The telephone poll was conducted Nov. 5-8 with 400 likely South Carolina Democratic primary voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.