With three weeks left until the presidential election, Hillary Clinton is clinging to a narrow lead over Donald Trump in the key state of Florida.
Quinnipiac University released a poll on Monday showing Clinton taking 48 percent while Trump took 44 percent of the vote. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s nominee, pulls 4 percent while Green Party candidate Jill Stein lags with 1 percent.
When the minor party candidates are taken out of the mix, Clinton leads 49 percent to 45 percent.
Both of the major party candidates have nailed down their respective bases, with Clinton reeling in 91 percent of Democrats while 85 percent of Republicans are for Trump. But Clinton has made up ground with voters outside the major parties and now leads with those voters with 46 percent while 38 percent say they are behind Trump.
The survey shows a gender gap in the Sunshine State. A majority of women -- 54 percent -- are for Clinton while 39 percent are for Trump. The Republican does better with men with 49 percent supporting him while 40 percent are for Clinton.
There’s also a racial divide as a majority of whites -- 57 percent -- are for Trump while 34 percent back Clinton. But the Democrat gets almost three-fourths of non-whites -- 73 percent -- while 19 percent are for Trump.
Peter Brown, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll, explained why Clinton leads the poll.
"Hillary Clinton is holding a thin lead in Florida because she is winning the battle for independent voters and holding her lead among women, non-white voters and her Democratic base,” Brown said. “Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, considered the alternative to Clinton or Trump, is not catching fire in the Sunshine State.”
Brown insisted Trump “probably can’t win” if he doesn’t carry Florida.
The poll of 660 likely voters in Florida was taken from Oct. 10-Oct. 17 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.8 percent.
Clinton and Trump meet in their third and final debate on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.
