POLL: Donald Trump surges ahead in one of the most crucial battleground states
A poll released by Bloomberg Politics on Wednesday showed Trump with a 5-point lead over Hillary Clinton in the Buckeye state, a significant improvement from polls in the state conducted last month.
Among the 802 likely Ohio voters surveyed, 48% said they supported Trump, while 43% they would vote for Clinton. 9% were undecided.
Conducted between September 9 and September 12, the poll came amidst a rocky weekend for the Democratic presidential nominee, as she abruptly left a 9/11 memorial service after overheating due to her pneumonia diagnosis, and was forced to amended statements saying some Trump supporters fell into a "basket of deplorables."
Pollster J. Ann Selzer predicted that Trump's support may lie in the fact that at the moment, more Republican voters are planning on turning out than Democratic voters.
"It is very difficult to say today who will and who will not show up to vote on Election Day," Selzer said. "Our poll suggests more Republicans than Democrats would do that in an Ohio election held today, as they did in 2004 when George W. Bush carried the state by a narrow margin. In 2012, more Democrats showed up."
Polls conducted in the last several weeks suggest the race may be tightening in the Buckeye state.
While a CBS/YouGov state poll released last week found the former secretary of state with a 7-point lead, other surveys released by Quinnipiac University and Emerson College found the candidates in a virtual dead-heat.
Many political observers agree that Ohio is likely key to a Trump victory in November.
While the real-estate mogul's massive unpopularity among minority voters makes victory difficult for him in battleground states states like Florida, he's repeatedly claimed that his popularity among some white working class voters could help him cut a swath through Rust Belt states like Ohio, Iowa, and possibly Wisconsin.