As presidential hopefuls prepare for key contests in Iowa and New Hampshire that are just a few weeks away, a new Field Poll shows Hillary Clinton maintaining a double-digit lead over Bernie Sanders in California’s primary election.

If the June primary were held today, 46 percent of likely voters would pick the former secretary of state, U.S. senator and first lady, while 35 percent would vote for Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont who bills himself as a Democratic socialist. The results are almost identical to a poll taken in October.

Sanders’ inability to gain ground in California should be welcome news to Clinton’s camp, political experts say. But voters here haven’t had much exposure to either candidate, and a big win by Sanders in an early voting state could shake things up.

“These poll numbers reflect what California Democrats have come to know about these candidates in recent years,” said Dan Schnur, who directs the Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. “But if Sanders wins Iowa and New Hampshire, these poll numbers will change dramatically overnight.”

Clinton is leading in California because she’s preferred over Sanders by majorities of women, minorities, registered Democrats, Northern California residents and people 40 and older, the poll shows.

Still, Sanders holds large leads over Clinton among millennials and independent voters who plan to vote in the Democratic primary, and he’s ahead slightly — but within the margin of error — among liberals.

Jill Sanders, an Alameda County resident, said she’s so frustrated with income inequality and the Bay Area’s skyrocketing cost of living that she had planned to sit out this year’s presidential election until she learned about Bernie Sanders’ candidacy.

“As soon as I started listening to him, I knew he was the only candidate I could vote for,” said Sanders, 49, a flight attendant for a major airline who isn’t related to the candidate.

She said Bernie Sanders is tackling thorny issues no other candidate would touch, such as “single-payer health care and making criminals pay even when they wear nice suits and work on Wall Street.”

The poll was conducted from Dec. 16 to Jan. 3 among 1,003 registered voters, 329 of whom are considered likely to vote in the state’s June Democratic presidential primary election. The margin of error for the Democratic sample is plus or minus 5.6 percentage points.

It also found that Clinton and Sanders are both viewed favorably by three in four likely voters and by more than half of their rival’s supporters. Only 1 percent of likely voters said they would vote for former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.

Clinton should be the Democratic nominee for president because she’s a smart, experienced negotiator who would get things done, said Oakland resident Deidre Wan, 55. Sanders, she said, simply doesn’t have enough “applicable experience.”

“Hillary is very serious about foreign policy, and I believe she’s what the country needs right now,” said Wan, a mental health counselor.

Contact Jessica Calefati at 916-441-2101. Follow her at Twitter.com/Calefati.