Bernie Sanders just surged past Hillary Clinton in a national poll for the first time

J. David Ake/AP Photo

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders took the lead over former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the first time on Thursday in a national poll of Democratic primary voters.

In the Fox News survey, Sanders captured 47% of support among likely Democratic voters nationally. Clinton, who has long been the Democratic frontrunner, garnered 44%.

Though Clinton's lead has shrunk significantly over the past several months, the Fox News poll is the first to show the senator ahead outright.

But it presented a divergent result from other recent surveys. An NBC poll released on Thursday evening showed Clinton maintaining an 11-point lead over Sanders nationally. Still, that represented a 14-point swing from when the same poll was conducted last month, before Sanders' double-digit New Hampshire primary win.

Both polls come just two days before Saturday's Nevada caucuses, where the few available public polls show the two candidates virtually neck and neck. Once considered a "firewall" for Clinton, Nevada has become a key battleground, as both candidates have rolled out campaign surrogates to woo interest groups like Latino voters and immigration activists.

Sanders has bombarded the state with ads and redeployed key campaign staff to the state in an attempt to make up ground against Clinton's team, which has been operating in state since April.

NOW WATCH: CORY BOOKER: I’m going to work hard to make sure Trump doesn’t win