Poll Update: Clinton Starting To Build Leads In All States After Debate

Hillary Clinton is surging in swing states after Monday night’s debate.

Public Policy Polling (PPP) surveys released on Thursday show her ahead of Donald Trump in Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia; and two new polls show her leading in New Hampshire with a seven-point lead, and a four-point lead in Florida, according to a new Mason-Dixon poll.

The PPP poll shows Clinton leading Trump by seven points in Colorado, 51%-44%; by three points in Florida, 48%-45%; by four points in North Carolina, 49%-45%; by eight points in Pennsylvania, 49%-44%, and by six points in Virginia, 49%-43%.

In a four-way race with Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, Clinton leads Trump by six points in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Virginia and two points in Florida and North Carolina.

PPP found that a solid majority of voters across all five states felt Clinton win the debate; Colorado, 53%-31%; Florida, 52%-35%; North Carolina, 53%-31%; Pennsylvania, 51%-32%; and Virginia, 54%-30%. Clinton also won a whopping majority with voters under 30: Colorado, 64%-23%: Florida, 65%-32%; North Carolina, 59%-17%, and Pennsylvania and Virginia, 53%-25%.

The WBUR poll in New Hampshire shows Clinton holding a seven-point lead over Donald Trump with likely voters, 42%-35%.

That poll, which surveyed 502 likely voters, also found that the number of voters who thought Clinton won the debate was more than three times the number for Trump, 59%-19%. Twice as many people thought that the debate made them more likely to vote for Clinton than Trump, 27%-13%. Additionally, 30% of voters felt the debate would make them less likely to vote for Trump; only 17% felt that way about Clinton.

Clinton’s edge in the state stems from her popularity with women, according to Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling Group, which conducted the WBUR survey. Koczela said almost half of women surveyed viewed Clinton favorably, while 70% of women viewed Trump unfavorably. He added, “That translates into votes … You know, there’s going to be a big gender gap, but it’s the size of the gender gap I think that makes a difference. And when you see these numbers, how few women view him favorably, I think that’s a real concern for him.”

Among men, Trump scored nine points higher.

Asked who was fit to be president, 49% said Clinton; 33% said Trump. 46% of respondents thought Clinton unfit to be in the White House; 62% felt Trump was unfit. More negatively for Trump, one-third of GOP voters felt him unfit for office.

Neither candidate scored high popularity marks; 51% of voters felt negatively about Clinton; 61% thought the same about Trump.

The demographic of the survey would seem to favor Trump; 92% of respondents were white, and Clinton does far better than Trump among voters of color. More Republicans were surveyed than Democrats; 32%-28%.

“When you see these numbers, how few women view him favorably, I think that’s a real concern for him.”

Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling Group

The Mason-Dixon Florida poll showed Clinton leading Trump 46% to 42%. Clinton leads with women 54%-36%, blacks 92%-1%, and Hispanics 64%-29%. Trump leads with unaffiliated voters 41%-33%, men 49%-37%, and non-Hispanic whites 53%-33%. Geographically, Clinton has a huge lead in Southeast Florida, 58%-29%, while Trump has a sizable lead in North Florida 53%-37% and Southwest Florida 51%-36%.

In the pivotal I-4 corridor, Clinton leads 47%-40% in the Tampa Bay area. Trump leads 46%-43% in more conservative Central Florida.