A new poll shows Hillary Clinton with a solid lead over Donald Trump in Florida, the largest swing state in the presidential contest.
While most polls show the two major candidates running close in the Sunshine State, Monmouth University released a survey on Tuesday which has Clinton ahead with 48 percent and Trump garnering 39 percent. Former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, back again as the Libertarian nominee, pulls 6 percent. Green Party nominee Jill Stein gets 1 percent.
Clinton has nailed down her party base with 92 percent of Democrats backing her while 4 percent support the Republican. Trump does less well with his base as 79 percent of Florida Republicans are behind him while 12 percent prefer Clinton. Voters outside the major parties break Clinton’s way as she takes 47 percent of them while 30 percent go for Trump, 11 percent support Johnson and 2 percent are for Stein.
Both the major party candidates are upside down in Florida. Half of those surveyed--50 percent--see Clinton as unfavorable while 36 percent view her favorably. Trump is seen as favorable by a third of those surveyed--33 percent--while 54 percent see him unfavorably.
Slightly more than half--51 percent--of white voters are for Trump while 37 percent are for Clinton. There is a gender gap here as 64 percent of white men back Trump while 24 percent are for Clinton. But almost half of white women--49 percent--are for Clinton while 39 percent are for Trump.
“The gender split among white voters in Florida is huge,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, on Tuesday. “Men are drawn to Trump’s message while women are not. These offsetting factors give Clinton the edge.”
Non-white voters break Clinton’s way with 69 percent for her and 19 percent for Trump.
Voters are divided when it comes to who would be better on two important issues. Asked who would do a better job on the economy and jobs, 49 percent say Clinton would while 46 percent say Trump would. Asked who would do a better job facing domestic terrorism, 48 percent say Clinton and 45 percent say Trump.
The poll of 402 likely Florida voters was taken from August 12-August 15 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percent.
