WASHINGTON — Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are now running neck-and-neck in Florida, as well as Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to a Quinnipiac University poll that took stock of three swing states.
The poll marks an 11-point difference from a month ago in the Sunshine State. Now, Trump leads Clinton 42 percent to 39 percent, within the margin of error; a month ago, Clinton led 47 percent to 39 percent. With third-party candidates included, Trump’s edge extends to five points, 41 percent to 36 percent.
In the two other states polled, Ohio and Pennsylvania, Clinton and Trump are in as tight a race as other pollsters have documented. They are tied at 41 percent each in Ohio, and Trump leads by 2 points, 43 percent to 41 percent, in Pennsylvania.
All of those leads are within the margin of error: 3.1 percentage points in Florida and Pennsylvania, and 3.2 percentage points in Ohio.
Much of the change in this poll stems from a steep drop in Clinton’s support among non-whites in Florida compared with the last poll and a decline in support among men. The poll also showed a drop in voters’ perception of her character.
“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 emails, she has lost ground to Trump on questions which measure moral standards and honesty,” said Peter Brown, who ran the poll.
The poll, which was conducted from June 30 to July 11, surveyed 1,015 voters in Florida, 955 in Ohio and 982 in Pennsylvania.
Clinton did receive some good news in the swing state of Colorado Wednesday afternoon, when Monmouth University released a poll finding her with a 13-point lead. The former secretary of state leads the real estate mogul among likely voters 48 percent to 35 percent, with 5 percent backing Libertarian Gary Johnson and 3 percent favoring likely Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
The poll also found incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet also with a 13-point advantage over his Republican challenger, Darryl Glenn.
The survey was conducted by telephone from July 9 to 12 with 404 Colorado residents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.
