Trump ahead of Clinton in crucial state

By Paige McGlauflin 10/26/16

There are less than two weeks left before the presidential election, and tensions are high in battleground states. While most of the country has already been determined which state will go for either presidential candidate in the electoral college, there are a few states whose votes can go either way, making them swing states. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had a strong lead in the swing state Florida earlier in October following the release of Republican candidate Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood tapes and the second presidential debate. A poll recently released by Bloomberg Politics now shows that Trump may have an advantage over her in the Sunshine State.
The Bloomberg poll has Trump at 45 percent to 43 for Clinton, and third party candidates getting an accumulated six percent from likely voters. A Quinnipiac University survey gathered earlier in October had Clinton at 48 percent to 44.
Florida is a hotbed for independent voters, and the new poll shows Trump attracting 44 percent of independent voters, while Clinton gets 37 percent and third party 14 percent. Trump is also leading amongst the older population, another demographic that is abundant in the state.
Veteran pollster Ann Selzer suggests that Trump “does well with groups that are key to winning there, including older, more reliable voters.”
Clinton, on the other hand, “depends on younger voters and a strong presence at the polls of black and non-Cuban Hispanics.”
The poll, which Selzer oversaw, has Clinton winning with both Hispanics and voters under 35.
The two point advantage is within the poll’s 3.2 percentage point margin of error. In the 2012 election, President Barack Obama won the state’s 29 votes by less than one percent.