Hillary Clinton Retains Edge in 4 Crucial States, New Polls Show
Hillary Clinton campaigned with Senator Tim Kaine at the Ernst Community Cultural Center in Annandale, Va., on Thursday. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times
Hillary Clinton is leading Donald J. Trump in Colorado, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, according to a new set of polls that show the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee with solid advantages in four crucial swing states.
According to NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist surveys, Mrs. Clinton leads Mr. Trump by a margin of 44 percent to 37 percent in Florida; 43 percent to 35 percent in Colorado; 44 percent to 35 percent in Virginia; and 44 percent to 38 percent in North Carolina.
The states account for 66 electoral votes and give Mrs. Clinton a strong foothold as the Republicans and Democrats head to their conventions in Cleveland and Philadelphia this month.
The polls show that large numbers of voters in each state remain undecided between the two leading candidates, and that both are viewed unfavorably by the electorate.
“The driving force behind voters’ choices is the negative impressions they have of both Trump and Clinton,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “Clinton’s single-digit lead in each of these states is due to her slight advantage in how voters perceive the two candidates.”
Despite Mrs. Clinton’s advantage in the four states, recent polling remains noisy. A Quinnipiac poll this week showed Mr. Trump with a three-point lead in Florida, with the races tight in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
The NBC poll in Colorado had a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points. The margin of error was plus or minus three points in Virginia, Florida and North Carolina.