Poll: Clinton has small lead over Trump in Ohio
A new poll in Ohio shows Hillary Clinton slightly ahead of Donald Trump but within the margin of error.
The Monmouth University Poll in the battleground state found Clinton had the support of 43% of likely Ohio voters while Trump had 39%. Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson had the backing of 10% of those surveyed, and 8% were undecided.
“Ohio has been nip and tuck for nearly every presidential election since 1992. As of right now, it looks like that tradition will continue,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
But if the state’s governor (who has not endorsed Trump) had been the nominee, Ohio would be quite a bit more likely to go red. The poll found that John Kasich would have led Clinton 57%-33% if the election were today.
The fact that Kasich has not endorsed the Republican nominee has not hurt him with Ohio voters. In fact, 38% thought more highly of him because he is not supporting Trump. Just 17% said they thought less highly of him.
Republican Sen. Rob Portman fared better than the top of the ticket. Portman, who is in a closely watched re-election race against former Democratic governor Ted Strickland, was ahead 48% to 40%.
The telephone poll was conducted Aug. 18-21 of 402 likely voters in the state. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 points.