Poll: Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump in Colorado, Virginia
Hillary Clinton has opened up a wide lead over Donald Trump in Colorado and Virginia and is narrowly ahead of him in Iowa in a new poll.
In Colorado, Clinton has 49 percent support among likely voters, while Trump gets 39 percent. She has a larger lead in Virginia, 50 percent to 38 percent. In Iowa the margin between the two is 3 points -- Clinton has 47 percent compared to Trump’s 44 percent, according to the Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.
Antipathy toward the opposing candidate is a strong rationale for support among the voters surveyed. Thirty-two percent of Clinton supporters say they’re actually pro-Clinton, while 44 percent are anti-Trump. In Trump’s case, 23 percent of his supporters say they’re pro-Trump, while 61 percent are anti-Clinton.
Assistant poll director Peter Brown suggested that Hispanic voters could be decisive in the presidential race in Colorado -- “with a burgeoning Hispanic population, Donald Trump’s comments about Hispanics seem to have put the state out of his reach,” Brown said in a statement. He credited the growth of Democratic-leaning suburbs in Northern Virginia for Clinton’s popularity there. And he noted that the race is closer in Iowa, largely because it’s predominantly white, and Clinton runs especially strong among minority voters. Her biggest weakness is among white working class men -- many of whom live in Iowa.
Women favor Clinton: her lead ranges from 18 to 25 percentage points among women in these swing states. Trump has an advantage in Iowa among men -- they favor him by 14 percentage points over Clinton -- but in Virginia and Colorado, he and Clinton are essentially tied among men.
From August 9 – 16, Quinnipiac University surveyed:
- 830 Colorado likely voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points;
- 846 Iowa likely voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points;
- 808 Virginia likely voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.
Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa, Colorado and the nation as a public service and for research.