Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton in California Dead Heat
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are in a tight race to win next month's California primary, according to a new poll that shows them in a virtual tie. The survey, conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, found that 46 of likely Democratic primary voters support Clinton, compared to 44 for Sanders. That's inside the poll's margin of error. California's June 7 vote is the next and final big contest in the Democratic primary, and with 475 delegates at stake, Sanders and Clinton are both campaigning in the state. Clinton is all-but assured the nomination due to her more-than 270-delegate lead. But Sanders is hoping to win as many delegates as possible in order to change the Democratic Party's agenda, as he explained for TIME's cover story this week. If he can win in California, Sanders said he can have greater leverage at the Democratic Party's convention in July. "Right now whether I win or lose, what I want to see is a transformation of the Democratic Party into a grassroots movement which is designed to represent the needs of working people, low-income people, young people, elderly people, rather than having such an extraordinary emphasis on wealthy campaign contributors," Sanders told TIME in an extended interview on Sunday in San Diego.