Polls: Clinton leads in Florida, New Hampshire

By David Wright

CNN

Hillary Clinton has single-digit leads over Donald Trump in Florida and New Hampshire, according to a new polls conducted after the first presidential debate.

A Mason-Dixon poll of likely voters in Florida found Clinton leading Trump 46% to 42%, just outside of the poll’s margin of error. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson drew 7% support, ahead of Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 1%. Four percent said they remain undecided.

Clinton’s edge in the state is powered by her support among women and nonwhite voters, and she performs better with Democrats (83%) than Trump does with Republicans (77%). Trump is buoyed by strong support among men and white voters.

The poll also broke down each candidate’s support by geography, which showed Clinton with an advantage over Trump in the southeast portion of the state, where she leads 58% to 29%. Trump was strongest in the state’s southwest, leading there 51% to 36%.

But in the “generally decisive” I-4 corridor, according to the poll, Clinton has a key advantage. She is leading 47% to 40% in the Tampa Bay region, which the Mason-Dixon poll identifies as a “swing area,” while Trump’s advantage in Republican-leaning central Florida is a slim 46% to 43%.

The Mason-Dixon poll was conducted between September 27 and 29, entirely after the first presidential debate which took place on Monday. It surveyed 820 registered voters, all of whom reported they were likely to vote, and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 points.

Clinton is ahead of Trump by 7 points in New Hampshire, according to another new poll taken after the first presidential debate.

The WBUR poll, released Friday, found Clinton with 42% support to Trump’s 35%, while Johnson draws a substantial 13% in the four-way race.

Four out of five likely voters in New Hampshire said they watched the debate between Clinton and Trump — 59% of those said that Clinton won, compared to 19% who gave Trump the win. While just over half said that the debate “made no difference” in how they would vote, 27% said the debate made them more likely to vote for Clinton, ahead of the 13% of said it would make them more inclined to vote for Trump.

The WBUR poll also surveyed voters on whether they thought each candidate was “fit to be president.” Forty-nine percent said that Clinton is while 46% said no, and 33% said yes for Donald Trump compared to 62% saying no.

Both candidates, though, are still disliked by a majority of voters. Fifty-one percent say they have a negative view of Clinton, and 61% say the same about Trump.

The WBUR poll was conducted between September 27 and 29, and surveyed 502 likely voters. It has a margin of error of +/- 4.4 points.