As we begin to look at this fall’s big presidential elections, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee and Hillary Clinton, his likely Democratic opponent are locked in a tight battle in Florida. In the Sunshine State, Clinton leads Trump, 43 percent to 42 percent,
Meanwhile Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders earned 44 percent to Trump’s 42 percent in the latest results of a Quinnipiac University survey released this morning.
Going deeper in the numbers we see that we could have a big time gender battle as Clinton holds a 13-point advantage among Florida women at 48 percent to 35 percent. Meanwhile, Trump’s lead among men is equally large, at 49 percent to 36 percent.
Too be honest Floridian’s according to the poll are not too trusting of either candidate. Each is viewed favorably by only 37 percent of voters and is seen unfavorably by 57 percent.
“Republicans’ weakness among minority voters is well known,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Poll, said in an analysis accompanying the results. “But the reason this race is so close overall is Clinton’s historic weakness among white men. In Florida, she is getting just 25 percent from white men.”
Among those voters who identify as non-whites Clinton leads 63-20. The poll shows huge divides in Florida based on age. Clinton leads by a margin of 49 percent to 27 percent among voters ages 18 to 34 and leads 46 percent to 37 percent among voters ages 35 to 49. But the numbers flip with older voters: Trump is up by a margin of 49 percent to 38 percent among voters ages 50 to 64 and leads by a margin of 50 percent to 37 percent among voters 65 and older.
In the two other battle ground states of Ohio and Pennsylvania the poll mirrors the results in Florida. Clinton at 43 percent and Trump at 42 percent in Pennsylvania, while In Ohio, Trump edges Clinton 43 to 39 percent.
“The presidential races between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the three most crucial states, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, are too close to call,” said Brown. “At this juncture, Trump is doing better in Pennsylvania than the GOP nominees in 2008 and 2012. And the two candidates are about where their party predecessors were at this point in Ohio and Florida.”
