Latest Poll: Maryland Not Feeling Trump

Despite a tightening national race for president and high unfavorable numbers, a new Goucher Poll shows Maryland voters overwhelmingly plan to cast their ballots for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The poll released Thursday shows the former New York Senator and Secretary of State with a 33 percent lead over Republican nominee and New York business mogul Donald Trump.

And Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen from Montgomery County has a sizable lead over GOP candidate Delegate Kathy Szeliga in the race to replace retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski. Fifty-four percent of those polled support Van Hollen, 24 percent back Szeliga, 2 percent indicate they are voting for Green Party candidate Margaret Flowers and 19 percent remain undecided.

If the presidential election were held today instead of Nov. 8, 58 percent of Maryland likely voters say they would vote for Clinton and 25 percent for Trump. Collectively, Green Party candidate Jill Stein (2 percent) and Libertarian Gary Johnson (6 percent) earned 8 percent of the total vote. Eight percent are currently undecided.

“The Democrat-to-Republican ratio, coupled with a large percentage of African American voters and populous progressive strongholds continue to give Democratic candidates a significant advantage in presidential election years,” said Dr. Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center. “Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney by 25 points statewide in 2012, so it’s not surprising that Clinton holds a sizable advantage over Trump in Maryland.”

The Goucher Poll shows both Clinton and Trump battling high unfavorable numbers, although the number is higher for the brash GOP candidate. Forty-six percent of those polled view Clinton unfavorably and 51 percent view her favorably. Seventy-six percent of voters held an unfavorable view of Trump and 22 percent have a favorable view.

Nationally, Clinton is at 41 points, compared to Trump at 40 points and Johnson at 8 points, according toRealClearPolitics averages.

The Goucher Poll was conducted from Sept. 17-20, surveyed 514 likely Maryland voters and has a margin of error of +/-4.3.

Photos: Gage Skidmore via Flickr