Sanders soaring: Polls show Bernie ahead in New Hampshire 2-to-1

MANCHESTER, N.H., Feb. 3 (UPI) -- After losing the Iowa caucuses to Hillary Clinton by just a fraction of a percent, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders appears poised to steal the show in New Hampshire on Feb. 9.

A new poll released Wednesday by the University of Massachusetts Lowell Center for Public Opinion shows 63 percent of registered Democratic voters in New Hampshire say they'll vote for Sanders next week, compared with 30 percent who say they'll vote for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Among likely Democratic voters, the numbers were 61 percent for Sanders versus 32 percent for Clinton.

According to the New Hampshire Secretary of State's office, roughly 43 percent of the state's voters are not registered with either the Democratic or Republican party. These voters can vote in either party's primary in New Hampshire, though registered Republicans and Democrats can not cross over and vote in the other party's primary.

According to the poll, 67 percent of independents (voters not registered with a party) plan to vote for Sanders, while only 27 say they'll to vote for Clinton.

In the same poll, Donald Trump led Republicans with 38 percent among likely voters, a full 24 points ahead of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who got 14 percent. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio came in third with 12 percent. The poll showed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, meanwhile, with 9 percent and Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 7 percent.

UMass Lowell polled 2,327 registered and likely voters between Jan. 31 and Feb. 2 with a margin of error of +/-4.83 percent for Republican likely voters and +/-5.38 percent for Democrat likely voters.

The poll was done with live interviewers with a 50 percent landline/50 percent mobile phone target split. The actual split was 53 percent LL/47 percent mobile.