Trump leads Clinton, 42 to 39 percent, in Florida in the latest Quinnipiac University poll. That’s an 11-point swing from last month, when Clinton led 47 to 39 percent.
(Article by Jesse Byrnes)
Trump has also retaken the lead from Clinton in Pennsylvania, where he is now up 43 to 41 percent. Last month, Clinton held a slim lead, 42 to 41 percent.
The pair remains tied in Ohio, where Republicans will gather to formally nominate Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland next week. Trump and Clinton each get 41 percent apiece there. In the poll last month, each won 40 percent.
The shift in the polls comes after a tough week on the campaign trail for Clinton, who dodged criminal charges from the FBI over her use of a private email server while secretary of state but was criticized harshly by FBI Director James Comey.
Clinton has had difficulty in winning over voters throughout the election, and Comey’s remarks were further ammunition for Trump and Republicans to attack her trustworthiness.
“While there is no definite link between Clinton’s drop in Florida and the U.S. Justice Department decision not to prosecute her for her handling of e-mails, she has lost ground to Trump on questions which measure moral standards and honesty,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
The figures come ahead of Trump’s expected announcement of a running mate pick later this week and as he attempts to unify a reticent GOP ahead of the party’s convention. Clinton is also expected to announce her VP pick soon.
Trump sees a bigger lead over Clinton in each of the states when third-party candidates are factored in: He leads Clinton by 5 points in Florida, 41 to 36 percent, with 7 percent going for Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and 4 percent for Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
With the third-party candidates in the mix, Trump takes a 1-point lead over Clinton in Ohio, 37 to 36 percent, with Johnson at 7 percent and Stein at 6 percent. In Pennsylvania, Trump leads Clinton by 6 points, 40 to 34 percent, with Johnson at 9 percent and Stein at 3 percent.
The surveys were conducted June 30 through July 11 via landlines and cellphones. The poll of 1,015 Florida voters has a margin of error of 3.1 points, while the poll of 955 Ohio voters has a margin of error of 3.2 points and the poll of 982 Pennsylvania voters has a margin of error of 3.1 points.
