Donald Trump has pulled ahead of Hillary Clinton in a five-point lead in a new poll released Thursday.
Rasmussen Reports found 44 percent of likely voters support Trump while 39 percent support Clinton, his biggest lead over the Democratic presidential nominee since mid-July.
The weekly White House Watch telephone and online survey found Trump leading Clinton in a four-way race including Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein, who took eight and two percent of the vote, respectively.
Last week, Trump had a smaller lead over Clinton, besting her by 42 percent to her 40 percent.
The conservative-leaning group found both candidates earned comparable support from people within their own party, by 76 and 75 percent.
Trump, however, has gained more ground among voters not affiliated with either major party, with 45 percent supporting him versus Clinton’s 27 percent.
Like other polls, Trump holds a steady advantage in the double-digits over Clinton with men with 48 percent supporting him, but Clinton leads slightly with women voters, carrying 43 percent to Trump’s 39 percent.
Young voters between the ages of 18-39 support Clinton at a higher rate than they support Trump, while voters in older age brackets tend to lean towards Trump.
Black voters and minorities heavily support Hillary Clinton, with 69 percent swinging in her favor. Trump, meanwhile, leads with white voters.
Thursday’s poll is the latest in a back-and-forth battle in recent surveys between the two major parties’ nominees. Many polls have shown Clinton out ahead of Trump in recent weeks, but Clinton’s lead has narrowed in recent weeks.
Part of her declining poll numbers could be a result of leaving the spotlight temporarily due to a bout of pneumonia, which raised questions about her overall health.
Clinton insisted she was healthy enough to continue on with her campaign.
Other polls released this week have suggested the Democratic nominee leads when it comes to most issues, including immigration, but recent surveys have found most voters believe Trump is better equipped to handle the economy. Voters also tend to believe Hillary Clinton has a temperament better-suited to be president than Trump does.
Voters will head to the polls Nov. 8.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on September 20-21, 2016 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
