Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
Too close to call.
With six months until the general election, that’s how a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday described the state of the race in three crucial swing states.
In Florida, Hillary Clinton is essentially tied with Donald Trump, with 43 percent of Floridians supporting Clinton to compared to 42 percent backing Trump. Bernie Sanders would fare slightly better against the presumptive Republican nominee. According to the Quinnipiac University poll, 44 percent of Florida voters said they would support Sanders compared to 42 percent who said they would support Trump.
Both Clinton and Trump struggle when it comes to their image in the Sunshine State. In both cases, 57 percent of Floridians said they had an unfavorable view of the candidates; while 37 percent said they had a favorable view.
Despite an unpopular view of Trump, 54 percent of Florida voters said they thought he would do a better job at handling the economy and 49 percent said he would do a better job at handling terrorism. The survey found 40 percent of Florida voters said Clinton would do a better job at handling the economy; 43 percent said she’d do a better job tackling terrorism.
The two candidates also struggled to connect with Florida voters. When asked whether voters thought Clinton was honest and trustworthy, 66 percent said no. Trump didn’t fare much better — 57 percent said they didn’t think he was honest and trustworthy.
According to the poll, 62 percent of Florida voters said they didn’t think Trump had the right temperament to handle an international crisis. When asked the same thing of Clinton, 54 percent of Florida voters said she had the right temperament to handle a crisis.
A 48 percent to 35 percent lead among women contributed to Clinton’s overall score of 43 percent in Florida. A 49 percent to 36 percent lead among men helped get Trump to 42 percent support in Florida.
The survey found independent voters are divided 39 percent to 39 percent. While white voters go Republican, 52 percent to 33 percent, non-white voters go Democratic 63 percent to 20 percent.
Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,051 Florida voters using live interviews on cell phones and landlines from April 27 through May 8. The Florida survey has a margin of error of 3 percent.
Trump and Clinton aren’t just in a tight race in Florida; there’s also close races in Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to the Quinnipiac University poll.
In Ohio, Trump leads Clinton 43 percent to 39 percent. Sanders gets 43 percent to Trump’s 41 percent in the Buckeye State.
The state of the race is Pennsylvania is similar to that of Florida; Clinton leads Trump 43 percent to 42 percent. Sanders leads Trump 47 percent to 41 percent in Pennsylvania.
Quinnipiac University interviewed 1,042 Ohio voters and 1,077 Pennsylvania voters from April 27 until May 8. Both polls have a margin of error of 3 percent.
“Six months from Election Day, 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 Peter A. Brown, assistant director for the Quinnipiac Poll. “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.”
According to the survey, no candidate since 1960 has won the presidential race without taking at least two of the three states.
