POLLS: It's getting tighter in the most crucial swing states
The new polls, from Quinnipiac University, showed Trump is up 1 point in Ohio, while Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was up 4 points in North Carolina and 5 points in Pennsylvania. The pair was tied in Florida.
"The effect of the Republican and Democratic conventions on the presidential race has run its course," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. "As the campaign enters its final stage, Florida and Ohio, two of the largest and most important swing states, are too close to call, while North Carolina and Pennsylvania give Hillary Clinton the narrowest of leads."
"The obvious takeaway from these numbers is that Donald Trump has staged a comeback from his post-Democratic convention lows, especially in Pennsylvania and Ohio," he continued. "Taking a bit longer view, however, we see a race that appears little changed from where it was as the GOP convention began in July, and at least in these four key states is very much up for grabs."
In the RealClearPolitics polling averages for the four states, Clinton holds leads in each. But her advantage has shrunk considerably since late August.
- In Florida, Clinton went from being up 4.5 points on August 22 to leading by 0.3 points Thursday.
- In Ohio, Clinton went from being up 5 points on August 21 to leading by 1 point Thursday.
- In North Carolina, Clinton's 2-point lead on August 20 shrunk to 0.8 points Thursday.
- In Pennsylvania, what was a 9.2-point lead on August 22 dropped to a 6.2-point lead Thursday.
Each of the Quinnipiac surveys sampled between 751 and 778 likely voters and had a margin of error of either 3.5 or 3.6 percentage points.
View the polling averages below:
Florida:
RealClearPolitics
Ohio:RealClearPolitics
North Carolina:RealClearPolitics
Pennsylvania:RealClearPolitics