Hillary Clinton is slightly ahead of Donald Trump in the battleground state of Ohio, a new poll finds, and leads by 8 points in a national survey.
The former secretary of state is leading the GOP nominee by 4 points in Ohio, according to a Monmouth University poll conducted from Aug. 18-21. Among likely voters in the state, Clinton has 43 percent of support, while Trump has 39 percent. Libertarian Gary Johnson has 10 percent, Green Party’s Jill Stein has less than one percent, and 8 percent say they are undecided.
Trump and Clinton are both somewhat even when it comes to getting support from their own parties. The poll shows 83 percent of Republicans support their nominee, while 88 percent of Democrats say they support theirs. Independents are split with 35 percent for Trump and 35 percent for Clinton.
“Ohio has been nip and tuck for nearly every presidential election since 1992,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
“As of right now, it looks like that tradition will continue,” he added.
Most Ohio voters have unfavorable views of both Clinton and Trump. The poll shows 29 percent have a favorable view of Trump and 58 percent have an unfavorable view. Clinton is doing slightly better than her opponent at 33 percent favorable and 51 percent unfavorable.
Clinton Continues Lead in National Poll
Clinton continues her lead over Trump in a national NBC/SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll, 50 percent to 42. Last week the Democratic nominee was leading by a point higher, 9 points, among registered voters.
In a four way race, Clinton leads by 5 points over Trump (43%-38%), while Johnson gets 11 percent, and Stein 5 percent.
The poll was conducted from Aug. 15-21.
Candidates’ Support Among Minorities
Although the Democrat is leading in Ohio, she is not doing as well as Barack Obama did in the past presidential election among black, Hispanic, and Asian voters, the Monmouth poll shows. Clinton is beating Trump among minorities 72 percent to 10 percent, while Obama beat Mitt Romney among minorities 84 percent to 14 percent.
Trump, who has been trying to woo African-American and Hispanic voters recently, faces a steep challenge among minorities. According to the NBC/Survey Monkey poll, only 8 percent of black voters support him, compared to 87 percent who support Clinton. He also lags among hispanics, with 22 percent of support, compared to 73 percent who back the Democratic nominee. The national poll shows that a majority of Asian Americans support Clinton over Trump, 66 percent to 23 percent.
