Election Polls 2016: Ahead Of Wisconsin, New York Votes, Republican And Democratic Candidates Face Obstacles

Recent polling conducted by CBS News and YouGov predicts mixed results in April primaries, both in the Republican and the Democratic contests. With candidates taking strong leads in certain states and slated to suffer heavy losses in others, Wisconsin and New York are set to serve as divisive voting events.

Wisconsin’s primary will be held Tuesday, New York’s on April 19.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz increased his lead over Republican front-runner Donald Trump in Wisconsin, garnering 43 percent of support among likely voters queried, followed by Trump with 37 percent and Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 18 percent in the poll released Sunday. Trump held a strong lead in his home state of New York, however, with 52 percent of likely voter support as his rivals trailed by more than 30 points.

Despite Kasich’s lagging results, the Ohio governor has said he refuses to give up the prospect of winning the nomination though he’ll need a brokered convention to pull it off. “There’s two strong things I have going for me. No. 1, I beat Hillary Clinton in virtually every poll. I’m the only one that does it on the Republican side,” Kasich said on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday, adding, “Secondly, when they look at the record — when they look at the record of job growth, the record of international foreign policy knowledge and experience.”

On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Clinton will face tough competition from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in Wisconsin and New York. The same YouGov/CBS poll put Sanders slightly ahead in Wisconsin among likely voters, with 49 percent of support compared to Clinton’s 47 percent.

“Voting for Hillary would be approving of the status quo and establishment — and I don’t approve of that," Teresa VanDoorn, a Wisconsin Sanders supporter told the Washington Post, adding, “I would write Bernie’s name in. I consider Hillary equal to the GOP candidates, to be frank.”

New York also will serve as a key battleground for the Democratic hopefuls as Clinton served as a New York senator and Sanders was born in Brooklyn. Clinton led with 53 percent of support followed by Sanders at 43 percent among those polled.

The polling was conducted among 1,501 registered voters in Wisconsin and 1,654 registered voters in New York in the period from last Tuesday through Friday and had margins of error of 3.7 and 3.4, respectively.