Hillary Clinton holds a 46% to 41% lead over Donald Trump among likely voters — with Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson at 9% and the Green Party’s Jill Stein at 2% — a new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows.
The survey found that Clinton’s lead swells to 10 points — 45% to Trump’s 35% — when the sample is broadened to include all registered voters, a similar margin to a Washington Post/ABC News poll the previous month.
The overall results are a departure from a spate of recent public polls — including a CNN/ORC survey released last week that put Trump up, 45% to 43% — that show the race tightening in recent weeks.
President Barack Obama’s approval rating is at 58%, the Washington Post/ABC News poll poll finds, his highest since July 2009.
That’s one of several differences between the Post/ABC poll and the CNN/ORC survey, which pegged Obama’s approval rating at 51%. The Post/ABC poll also showed a significantly less Republican America, finding a 34% Democrat to 24% Republican split in how voters identify themselves, compared to CNN’s 32% Democrat to 28% Republican split.
In the new poll, Trump’s supporters show signs of being slightly more engaged: 46% say they’re very enthusiastic about their candidate, compared to 33% of Clinton’s supporters; 93% of pro-Trump registered voters say they’re certain to vote, while 80% of Clinton’s supporters say they’re certain to vote.
Trump leads Clinton 50% to 36% among white likely voters, narrower than Mitt Romney’s 20-point margin over Obama in 2012. Clinton leads Trump among nonwhite voters, 75% to 13%.
The poll surveyed 1,002 adults reached by cellular and landline phones between September 5-8. Overall results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points; the error margin is four points among the sample of 842 registered voters, and 4.5 points among the sample of 642 likely voters.
Meanwhile, Clinton and Trump are deadlocked in four battleground states, new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls of likely voters show.
Among them are New Hampshire and Nevada, two states that Democrats have won in most recent presidential elections.
In New Hampshire, Clinton is narrowly ahead, 39% to 37%, with Johnson at 15% and Stein at 3%. In a head-to-head race excluding Johnson and Stein, Clinton leads 42% to Trump’s 41%.
In Nevada, with likely voters, Trump holds a 42% to 41% lead, with Johnson at 8% and Stein at 3%. Head-to-head, Clinton has a 45% to 44% advantage.
Clinton, meanwhile, has succeeded in putting Trump on defense in two states that have historically been reliable wins for Republicans.
In Arizona, Trump leads Clinton, 40% to 38%, with Johnson at 12% and Stein at 3%. In a head-to-head race, Trump leads Clinton, 42% to 41%.
Among likely voters in Georgia, Trump has 44% support to Clinton’s 42%, with Johnson receiving 10% support and Stein at 1%. Head-to-head, Trump leads, 46% to 43%.
The NBC/WSJ/Marist polls were conduced September 4-6.
In Arizona, the poll interviewed 649 likely voters for a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points; in Georgia, the poll interviewed 625 likely voters for a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points; in Nevada, the poll interviewed 627 likely voters for a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points; and in New Hampshire, the poll interviewed 737 likely voters for a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.