Though still under 50 percent support, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has increased her lead in the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination compared to a few weeks ago, with her support growing even further should Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. decide not to run, according to results from a survey released Monday.

Mrs. Clinton received 42 percent support in the national CNN/ORC poll, compared to 24 percent for Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and 22 percent for Mr. Biden.

In a CNN/ORC survey taken from Sept. 4-8, Mrs. Clinton had been at 37 percent support, compared to 27 percent for Mr. Sanders and 20 percent for Mr. Biden.

The 18-point lead is about in line with the latest RealClearPolitics average of recent polling, though Mrs. Clinton does trail Mr. Sanders in recent polls on New Hampshire and is running even with him in the latest RCP average on Iowa.

Without Mr. Biden in the race, Mrs. Clinton would lead Mr. Sanders by a 29-point, 57 percent to 28 percent margin. Mr. Biden has not yet announced his 2016 intentions.

The survey of 392 registered Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents was taken Sept. 17-19 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

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