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In the topsy-turvy Democratic race in New Hampshire, Hillary Rodham Clinton took a small lead over Senator Bernie Sanders on Tuesday in a Monmouth University poll, reversing a deficit of eight percentage points from September.

Mrs. Clinton’s three-percentage-point lead was within the poll’s 4.9 percent margin of error. Still, it was the latest survey since the Democratic debate last month showing Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders trading off the lead, after the Vermont senator led solidly by double digits two months ago.

Mrs. Clinton notably reversed a deficit among women in the poll, following a week in which she and her allies strongly implied that Mr. Sanders was sexist for accusing her of “shouting” about gun violence. With Clinton surrogates pressing hard on the accusations — in one case calling Mr. Sanders “misogynistic’’ — he has been on the defensive, pointing to his congressional record of fighting for women’s rights.

But he appears to be on the losing end of the attack. In the Monmouth poll, Mrs. Clinton led Mr. Sanders 56 percent to 37 percent among women, a reversal of a five-percentage-point deficit among women in September.

The poll also found Mrs. Clinton with a big lead among registered Democrats, 57 percent to 35 percent. Mr. Sanders was the preference of registered independents and people who have not voted before. Independents can vote in either party’s primary in New Hampshire and new voters can register the same day.

“Past results show that registered Democrats are likely to make up a majority of the primary electorate,’’ Patrick Murray, director of the poll, said. “Sanders either has to convince more of these voters to support him or he has to turn out an unprecedented number of independents and brand-new voters.’’