Poll: Trump has slight lead over Clinton in Florida, Pennsylvania
New polls in key battleground states show a tight race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, with the billionaire candidate edging out Clinton in Florida and Pennsylvania and tying her in Ohio.
According to Quinnipiac University polls out Wednesday, Trump has a three-point advantage in Florida, 42 to 39 percent -- within the survey's margin of error. In Pennsylvania, Trump has another slight edge over the presumptive Democratic nominee, 43 to 41 percent -- also within the poll's margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. In the swing state of Ohio, Trump and Clinton are tied with 41 percent of support each.
If third-party candidates are added to the mix, Trump's lead increases across all three states. In Florida, Trump leads Clinton 41 to 36 percent, with 7 percent for Libertarian party candidate Gary Johnson and 4 percent for the Green party's Jill Stein. The Pennsylvania survey shows Trump at 40 percent to Clinton's 34 percent, with Johnson at 9 percent and Stein at 3. In Ohio, Trump gets 37 percent of support compared to Clinton's 36 percent, with 7 percent for Johnson and 6 percent for Stein.
The poll numbers represent a shift from the most recent Quinnipiac polls out June 21. Three weeks ago, Clinton led Trump in Florida by 8 points and edged out Trump by one point in Pennsylvania. The two were also tied in Ohio in the university's previous survey.
Quinnipiac University conducted the survey from June 30 to July 11, when the final decisions regarding the federal investigation into Clinton's email server were handed down. Though Clinton faces no criminal charges, questions surrounding her private email use seemed to negatively impact her poll numbers, with the former secretary losing ground with voters on questions of honesty and trustworthiness: In all three states, voters found Trump more "honest and trustworthy."
Trump boasted of the poll results in a new tweet early Wednesday:
Thank you Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania! #CrookedHillary is not qualified. #ImWithYou pic.twitter.com/M1yzgyeEdY
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 13, 2016
Clinton's spokesperson, Brian Fallon, said the campaign expects the battleground states to remain "close til the end."
We know the battlegrounds are going to be close til the end. That's why we need to keep working so hard. Trump is a serious danger, folks.
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) July 13, 2016
Quinnipiac surveyed 1,015 Florida voters with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points; 955 Ohio voters with a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points; and 982 Pennsylvania voters with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.