COLUMBUS – A new poll shows Donald Trump has not only erased Hillary Clinton’s slim lead among likely voters in Ohio but has edged ahead of his Democratic rival.
The Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday shows the Republican leading Clinton 46 percent to 45 percent, well within the margin of error, in a direct head-to-head matchup but, when Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnsons and the Green Party’s Jill Stein are factored in, Trump‘s lead widens to 41 to 37 percent.
A Quinnipiac poll of likely voters in August showed Clinton leading 49 percent to 45 percent.
“The obvious takeaway from these numbers is that Donald Trump has staged a comeback from his post-Democratic convention lows, especially in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Taking a bit longer view, however, we see a race that appears little changed from where it was as the GOP convention began in July,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
The poll was conducted in Ohio and the other key swing states, Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
At a charter school in Cleveland Thursday, Trump unveiled an education plan that included expanding merit pay, and creating a program to award $20 billion in grants for impoverished children to pursue “school choice.”
Clinton’s campaign immediately blasted it as an attempt to “gut nearly 30 percent of the federal education budget and turn it into private school vouchers” said Hillary for American senior policy advisor Maya Harris.
She says that “would decimate public schools across America and deprive our most vulnerable students of the education they deserve.”
Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico, has a bigger impact on the poll than does Stein, primarily at Clinton’s expense.
“Johnson could decide the presidential election in the Buckeye State. He is getting 14 percent from Ohio voters and how that cohort eventually votes could be critical in this swing state and in the nation,” Brown said.
Ohio women back Clinton 52 – 39 percent, while men back Trump 53 – 38 percent. White voters back Trump 53 – 38 percent, as non-white voters go to Clinton 81 – 11 percent. Trump leads 86 – 9 percent among Republicans as Democrats back Clinton 88 – 9 percent. Independent voters go 43 percent for Trump and 41 percent for Clinton.
The survey of 775 Ohio likely voters was conducted between August 29 and Sept. 7 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.