While several polls have shown Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump nationally, the results of a new Quinnipiac University poll show tight races in key swings states.
Quinnipiac's swing state poll focuses on Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, as no candidate has won the presidential race without taking at least two of these three states since 1960.
The poll showed Clinton at 43 percent and Trump at 42 percent in both Florida and Pennsylvania, reflecting virtual ties.
Trump edges Clinton 43 percent to 39 percent in Ohio, with the likely Republican nominee's 4-point lead slightly wider than the poll's margin of error.
"Six months from Election Day, the presidential races between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the three most crucial states, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, are too close to call," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Poll.
"At this juncture, Trump is doing better in Pennsylvania than the GOP nominees in 2008 and 2012," he added. "And the two candidates are about where their party predecessors were at this point in Ohio and Florida."
President Barack Obama won all three states in both of the two previous elections, helping to win and then remain in the White House.
Brown joked that this year's presidential election may be good for divorce lawyers, pointing to the massive gender gap.
Clinton has big leads among women in the three swings states, while Trump has a similarly large advantage among men.
The tight races in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania also reflect wide age and racial gaps, as white voters and older voters support Trump but non-white voters and younger voters favor Clinton.
Meanwhile, the poll also found that Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., runs stronger against Trump in the key swing states than Clinton.
Sanders leads Trump 44 percent to 42 percent in Florida, 43 percent to 41 percent in Ohio, and 47 percent to 41 percent in Pennsylvania.
Clinton's big lead among delegates makes her the likely Democratic nominee, but the Sanders campaign may point to such poll results in an effort to swing voters and superdelegates.
The Quinnipiac survey of 1,051 Florida voters, 1,042 Ohio voters, and 1,077 Pennsylvania voters was conducted April 27th through May 8th. The margin of error for all three states was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
(Photo Credit: Lorie Shaull)
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Political News