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Clinton, Trump lead among Georgia voters in new exclusive Channel 2 presidential poll

ATLANTA — An exclusive Channel 2 Action News poll shows Hillary Clinton is currently far ahead of her opponent, Bernie Sanders, in Georgia.

The poll by Landmark/RosettaStone polled 600 voters, asking them who they preferred for the Democratic presidential ticket.

In total, 63.3 percent of voters chose Clinton, 21.5 percent of voters chose Sanders and 15.2 percent of voters were undecided.

Channel 2 political reporter Lori Geary broke down the numbers Friday and showed young democratic voters in Georgia are not flocking to Sanders as they were in other states, like Iowa and New Hampshire.

Clinton far and away locks up the African-American vote, according to the poll. That could help give her a huge lead in Georgia.

“What we want is what the nation wants, which is continued progress led by President Obama and continued by President Hillary Clinton,” Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams told Geary.

Abrams told Geary that she was not surprised by the results of the new poll.

Although the numbers show Sanders has a huge lead in New Hampshire, that's far from the case in Georgia.

      Age     Race  
  Total: 600 18-39 (142) 40-64 (338) 65 or 0ver White African-American Other
Hillary Clinton 63.3 % 61.0 % 61.2 % 72.5 % 48.4 % 76.7 % 40.7 %
Bernie Sanders 21.5 % 13.5 % 27.2 % 14.2 % 33.1 % 11.0 % 40.7 %
Undecided 15.2 % 25.5 % 11.6 % 13.3 % 18.5 % 12.3 % 18.6 %

The exclusive poll shows of 600 likely Georgia Democratic voters, 77 percent of the African-American vote goes to Clinton and just 11 percent to Sanders.

“She has a long commitment to civil rights that has not been given lip service,” Abrams said.

“African-Americans will be about 55 percent or more of the Democratic primary voters,” said Emory Political Science Professor Merle Black.

Black told Geary that Sanders is usually strong among African-Americans, but according to the new poll, Clinton crushes him 3-to-1.

  Gender   Metro Atlanta  
  Male (250)
Female (350)
Inside (320)
Outside (280)
Hillary Clinton 56.8 % 68.0 % 58.4 % 69.2 %
Bernie Sanders 26.4 % 18.8 % 24.7 % 17.6 %
Undecided 16.8 % 14.0 % 16.9 % 13.2 %

The Georgia campaign for Sanders released a statement to Channel 2 Action News, saying there's a lot of momentum after Iowa, and “What is not captured by the polls is the amount of volunteer activism throughout the state of Georgia.”

“He would have to have a political earthquake or a series of earthquakes for him to be truly competitive in Georgia,” Black said.

But Sanders' Georgia teams told Geary they're on their way now to Savannah and Augusta to meet with hundreds of new volunteers, and they're feeling momentum.

Republican Results

Our exclusive poll of Georgia Republicans shows Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio ahead of the pack.

But Trump's large lead is getting smaller after a loss in Iowa.

People on the ground for Cruz and Rubio in Georgia are trying to close the gap even more.

“I think people are finally paying attention. They're making up their minds,” said Cruz’s Grassroots Co-Chair Louie Hunter.

Hunter told Geary that he likes the momentum he's seeing across the state.

In our exclusive poll of 500 likely GOP voters, Trump is still nine points ahead of his opponents, but has fallen 16 points since the previous Landmark/RosettaStone poll in December.

      Age     Race  
  Total: 500 voters 18-39 40-64 65 0r over White African-American Other
Jeb Bush 3.0 % 7.4 % 1.9 % 2.9 % 2.7 % 0 % 7.1 %
Ben Carson 7.7 % 13.2 % 8.4 % 4.1 % 7.5 %
0 % 14.3 %
Ted Cruz 18.3 % 16.2 % 19.2 % 17.6 % 18.6 % 16.7 % 7.1 %
Chris Christie 3.9 % 2.9 % 5.0 % 2.4 % 3.6 %
0 % 14.3 %
Carly Fiorina 1.8 % 1.5 % 1.9 % 1.8 % 1.7 %
0 % 7.1 %
John Kasich 4.4 % 11.8 % 3.1 % 2.9 % 4.6 %
0 % 0 %
Marco Rubio 18.2 % 10.3 % 18.4 % 21.8 % 18.8 %
0 % 7.1 %
Donald Trump 27. 3 % 26.5 % 26.1 % 29.4 % 27.4 % 50.0 % 14.3 %
Undecided 15.4 % 10.2 % 16.0 % 15.1 % 15.1 % 33.3 % 28.7 %

Both Cruz and Rubio got a bump up in the number. Rubio saw a seven point increase.

They're followed by Ben Carson, John Kasich and Chris Christie. Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina round out the bottom two.

“Trump really needs a huge victory in New Hampshire to revise his campaign. The fact that he didn't win in Iowa was a real blow to him,” said Channel 2 political analyst Bill Crane.

Trump's state director released a statement, saying, "Mr. Trump maintains a substantial lead in Georgia, where we will continue to build our grassroots organization throughout the state in order to turn our supporters out on March 1.”

  Gender   Metro Atlanta  
  Male (264) Female (236) Inside (232) Outside (268)
Jeb Bush 1.9 % 4.3 % 2.1 % 3.7 %
Ben Carson 4.5 % 11.1 % 6.9 % 8.2 %
Ted Cruz 21.1 % 14.9 % 15.9 % 20.2 %
Chris Christie 4.2 % 3.8 % 7.3 % 0.7 %
Carly Fiorina 0.8 % 3.0 % 3.4 % 0.4 %
John Kasich 7.2 % 1.3 % 6.0 % 3.0 %
Marco Rubio 18.9 % 17.4 % 19.3 % 17.2 %
Donald Trump 29.4 % 24.7 % 24.9 % 29.6 %
Undecided 12.0 % 19.5 % 14.2 % 17.0 %

“If he's got a ground game, good for him. I guarantee you our ground game is bigger and better and deeper and stronger and more committed,” Hunter told Geary.

Black warns, though, to watch out for Rubio, especially if he does well in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

“You could have a consolidation of support for the more traditional candidates that would move toward Rubio,” Black said.

Georgia is part of the SEC Primary, which happens March 1.

If anyone is a voter that has made up their mind, early voting starts in many counties across Georgia on Monday.