Sanders has 8 percentage point lead in West Virginia primary polling

Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Bernie Sanders is leading recent polls for the May 10 West Virginia primary, according to a Public Policy Polling survey.

The May 3 poll had Sanders in the lead 45 percent to Secretary Hillary Clinton’s 37 percent with Democratic and independent voters, with 18 percent undecided.

Sanders strengths in the state are with independents, with 25 percent of the persons polled identifying as independent and 75 percent claiming Democrat.

With indies, Sanders commands a huge lead in polling with 56 percent backing him, as opposed to Clinton’s 19 percent. 24 percent are undecided,

For voters identifying as Democrats, Clinton holds a slim lead 43 percent to Sanders 41 percent, with 24 undecided.

Sanders also has a strong lead with younger voters, with 54 percent of those aged 18-45 choosing him over Clinton’s 34 percent, with 18 percent undecided.

The West Virginia primary votes will decide proportionally who the 29 delegates from the state will represent at the Democratic National Convention July 25-28 in Philadelphia.

Sanders trails Clinton by 290 pledged delegates, 1414-1704, with 933 pledged candidates left up for grabs in 13 remaining primaries.

A candidate needs 2,383 delegates out of 4,765 (4,051 pledged 714 unpledged – or super delegates) to win the Democratic presidential nomination.