There are 32 days until the election and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is leading Republican nominee Donald Trump in key battleground states.
Florida:
Trump had been performing solidly in the Sunshine State, but as of the past week the state has shifted to become more favorable to Clinton. In the last five polls, Hillary is leading in four and Trump is leading narrowly in the most recent one from Emerson.
The Emerson College poll has Trump at 45 percent, Clinton at 44 percent, Libertarian Gary Johnson at four percent, Green Party’s Jill Stein at three percent, and 4 percent of voters are unsure. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent.
A poll from University of North Florida of likely voters has Clinton ahead with 41 percent, Trump at 38 percent, Johnson at six percent, Stein at three percent, and ten percent of voters are undecided. The poll shows the top issues for Florida voters are jobs and economy, terrorism, and education. As most polls have shown, there is a significant gender gap between the two candidates. Trump leads among men 46 percent to 40 percent and Clinton is ahead with women 53 percent to 36 percent.
Likewise as most polls, the UNF one has Trump with a double-digit lead among white voters and Clinton is ahead with Hispanics and blacks. The UNF poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percent.
Ohio
This is one swing state where Trump has been consistently ahead of Clinton. The Republican nominee lead Clinton in all polling conducted in Ohio during September, but Clinton is ahead in the latest poll.
The Monmouth University poll out Wednesday has Clinton at 44 percent, Trump at 42 percent, and Johnson at 5 percent. While both the Trump and Clinton campaigns have done their best efforts to damage each other, both have actually improved their net favorability by two percent since mid-August. Clinton and Trump still have poor ratings, -20 and -27, respectively.
The poll found that Clinton’s attacks on Trump’s temperament have been effective. Thirty-three percent of Ohio voters polled believe Trump has a suitable temperament to serve as president, while 62 percent disagree. On the other hand, 59 percent of voters think Clinton has the proper temperament to be president, 39 percent think she does not.
The Monmouth poll has a margin of error of plus 4.9 percent.
A Quinnipiac University poll conducted after the first presidential debate has Trump ahead with 46 percent, Clinton at 41 percent, Johnson at five percent, and Stein at two percent.
The poll shows Trump holding a strong lead among independent voters 52 percent to Clinton’s 33 percent. Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll, said, “In some states, figuring why one candidate is doing better than the other takes some head scratching, but not in Ohio. Trump’s 19-point lead among independent voters tells us almost all we need to know. Secretary Clinton must close that gap to come back in the Buckeye State.”
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has been described as possibly the most important state by both the Clinton and Trump campaigns, and Hillary is currently leading the Keystone state.
An average of three polls released in October show Clinton ahead of Trump by almost eight percent.
A Franklin & Marshall College poll released Tuesday has 47 percent of likely voters backing Clinton, 38 percent supporting Trump, 5 percent behind Johnson, and nine percent of likely voters are undecided.
Trump has a strong lead among non-college educated white voters, 46 percent to 39 percent, but the poll does have some surprising findings. Among both white men and women, Clinton is ahead of the GOP nominee. The F&M poll has a margin of error of 4.8 percent.
A Monmouth University poll also released Tuesday has Clinton ahead of Trump by ten percent. The Democratic nominee is at 50 percent, Trump is at 40 percent, Johnson is at 5 percent, and Stein is at 2 percent.
This strong lead by Clinton is despite Trump being ahead with independent voters 43 percent to 38 percent. This is likely due to Clinton benefiting from more party unity. Ninety percent of Democrats back Clinton, while just 75 percent of Republicans support Trump. The Monmouth poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.
New Hampshire
Clinton is ahead in the Granite State, but that lead has been narrowing. A poll out Thursday has the two major-party candidates nearly tied.
The Suffolk University poll has Clinton at 43.8 percent, Trump at 42 percent, Johnson at 5.2 percent, and seven percent of voters undecided. New Hampshire voters polled find Clinton and Trump about equally dishonest. An interesting finding in the poll is that 61 percent of voters described their feeling about the election as “alarmed.” The poll shows that terrorism and the economy are overwhelmingly the two most important issues for voters. The Suffolk poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent.
A New Hampshire poll conducted just after the first presidential debate from WBUR has Clinton ahead of Trump by seven percent. The Democratic nominee is at 42 percent, Trump is at 35 percent, Johnson is at 13 percent, and Stein is supported by 4 percent.
A troubling result for Trump in the poll is that a net three percent of voters believe Clinton is fit to be president and a net negative 29 percent of voters think likewise of Trump. The WBUR poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent.
North Carolina
Trump had been holding a lead in this southern state which Romney one in 2012 but as of recent the tides have turned in Clinton’s favor. An average of the five most recent polls show Clinton leading by 2.6 percent.
A SurveyUSA poll of likely voters released Tuesday has Clinton at 46 percent, Trump at 44 percent, Johnson at five percent and six percent are undecided.
As has been typical Trump leads among men by nine percent, while Clinton leads among women by 12 percent. Trump is also ahead with white voters by 20 percent and Clinton leads with likely black voters 83 percent to eight percent.
Voters prefer Trump when it comes to national security 56 percent to 36 percent. Clinton is the favorite to handle the economy, 47 percent to 39 percent.
A Bloomberg poll has the race similarly tight and in Clinton’s favor. The Democratic nominee is ahead with 44 percent, Trump is at 43 percent, Johnson is at six percent, Stein receives two percent and another two percent of voters are undecided.
This poll was conducted after the Charlotte riots and shows the second most important issue for voters is “race relations.” The poll found that voters are more bothered by Trump’s alleged mocking of a reporter’s disability and of a Miss Universe pageant winner than of his support for the “birther” movement and refusal to release tax returns.
When it comes to Clinton, voters are more bothered about her private email server, foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation, and handling of attacks on Benghazi than her husband’s infidelities. The Bloomberg poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.
Colorado
The Rocky Mountain state was previously viewed as within Trump’s grasp but recent polls put it firmly in Clinton’s column.
Two recent polls both show Clinton ahead of Trump by 11 percent, before that two polls showed Trump in the lead by single digits.
A Monmouth University poll released Monday has Clinton at 49 percent, Trump at 38 percent, Johnson at seven percent, Stein at three percent and another three percent of voters are undecided. More voters than not thought both Clinton and Trump didn’t understand the day-to-day concern of voters, but Trump performed much worse here than Clinton.
Thirty-eight percent of voters think Trump understands the day-to-day concerns “of people like you,” and 60 percent think he does not. Forty-seven percent of voters think Clinton understands the daily concerns of people and fifty percent think she does not. The Monmouth poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.