Election 2016 Polls: Before Brooklyn, New York Debate, Where Do Bernie Sanders And Hillary Clinton Stand?

After days of crisscrossing New York state, gathering endorsements and subway card swipe mishaps, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to face off against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders Thursday evening in the latest Democratic debate.

The debate is slated to take place at the Duggal Greenhouse at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City at 9 p.m. EDT and will be aired by both CNN and local TV station NY1.

With less than a week before Tuesday’s New York primary, Clinton enjoys a lead over Sanders in several polls. In an average of several New York primary polls conducted by Real Clear Politics, Clinton has the support of 52.6 percent of voters compared with 39.3 percent support for Sanders.

Clinton has 53 percent support to Sanders’ 40 percent in the latest poll released by Quinnipiac University on Tuesday. Seven percent of voters remain undecided. Clinton maintains a strong lead among black voters with 65 percent support compared to Sanders with 28 percent.

“She [Clinton] leads Sen. Bernie Sanders in many New York demographic groups except the young folks and very liberal voters, but it’s a huge lead among black voters that gives her a comfortable double-digit margin,” Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Maurice Carroll said.

On gender lines, Clinton has greater support from female voters with 55 percent compared with Sanders at 38 percent. The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 860 likely Democratic primary voters April 6-11 with a 3.3 percentage point margin of error.

New York is a key state for both Sanders and Clinton. Sanders was born in Brooklyn, and Clinton has called the Empire State home since serving as a U.S. senator, 2001-09.

Clinton leads the Democratic presidential delegate count with 1,758 while Sanders has the support of 1,069 delegates. A candidate needs 2,383 delegates to gain the nomination. There are 291 delegates up for grabs in New York with 163 pledged delegates, which are awarded proportionally based on the popular vote, 84 at-large delegates and 44 super delegates.