Poll: Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump in diverse battleground states
Hillary Clinton has an advantage over general election rival Donald Trump in battleground states that boast highly diverse populations, according to a new poll.
The NBC News/ Wall Street Journal/ Marist survey, released Friday morning, shows the former secretary of state leading Trump in four states: Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia.
Among registered voters in Colorado, Clinton leads 43 percent to 35 percent. In Florida, Clinton's is up by seven points: 44 percent to 37 percent. Clinton has a six-point advantage in North Carolina, 44 percent to 38 percent. Virginia has Clinton up by nine points, 44 percent to 35 percent.
The polls come out just as the two candidates prepare for their party's respective national conventions in Cleveland and Philadelphia. The Republicans' convention in Ohio expects to see several protests in light of their presumptive nominee's unpopularity among minority populations.
According to the NBC/WSJ/Marist poll, third-party candidates barely move the needle when it comes to the Clinton-Trump showdown: Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson gets 13 percent in Colorado, the Green party's Jill Stein gets 4 percent, Clinton has 39 percent of support and Trump has 33 percent. Florida's voters put Clinton at 41 percent, Trump at 36 percent, Johnson at 7 percent and Stein at 4 percent. In North Carolina, Clinton gets 2 percent, Trump gets 36 percent, Johnson 7 percent and Stein 2 percent. In Virginia, Clinton notches 41 percent of support, Trump 34 percent, Johnson 10 percent and Stein 2 percent.
Clinton and Trump both remain deeply unpopular in these states, however, with voters holding slightly more unfavorable views of the billionaire businessman.
The state polls were conducted July 5-11 among 794 registered voters in Colorado (with a 3.5 percentage point margin of error), 871 registered voters in Florida (3.3 percentage points), 907 registered voters in North Carolina (3.3 percentage points) and 876 registered voters in Virginia 3.3 percentage points).
Nationwide, Clinton and Trump are virtually tied in the latest CBS News/New York Times poll released Thursday. Forty percent of registered voters in that survey said they will vote for Clinton and 40 percent said they back Trump. A month ago, Clinton led Trump 43 to 37 percent.