Politics & Government

Final Presidential Polls Before Election Day Show Hillary Clinton With Slight Edge Over Donald Trump

With the FBI email probe aside, Hillary Clinton has one less thing to worry about on Tuesday.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton maintains a small but steady national lead over Republican rival Donald Trump, as news that a final headache for her White House run — another probe into emails during her time as secretary of state — has come to an end when FBI Director James Comey said on Sunday that nothing has changed since July when he announced that he would not recommend criminal charges against Clinton to the Department of Justice.

A new Bloomberg Politics poll released Monday puts Clinton up 46 percent to 43 percent over Trump in a head-to-head race. Although the survey was conducted over the weekend, it did not include data from interviews conducted after Comey's Sunday announcement.

Clinton also maintains her 3-point advantage in a four-way race that includes Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein. With those candidates included, Clinton leads Trump 44 percent to 41 percent, with Johnson polling at 4 percent and Stein at 1 percent.

Find out what's happening in Across Americafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The Bloomberg poll reflects a Politico/Morning Consult poll released on Sunday, which shows Clinton with a 3-point lead over Trump. Likely voters support Clinton 45 percent to Trump's 42 percent in the survey that was conducted Friday and Saturday.

Similarly, a CBS poll also released on Monday shows Clinton with a lead of four points among likely voters, 45 percent to Trump’s 41 percent.

Find out what's happening in Across Americafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

However, in key states, new polls show a tight race where most leads are within the margin of error:

  • In Florida, Clinton leads Trump by just one point, 46 to 45 percent, according to a Quinnipiac poll released on Monday.
  • In North Carolina, according to Quinnipiac, Clinton has a 2-point lead over Trump, 47 percent to 45 percent.
  • In Virginia, where Clinton running mate Tim Kaine is a senator, she has a 6-point lead over Donald Trump, 48 percent to 42 percent, according to the latest survey by the Wason Center at Christopher Newport University.
  • In New Hampshire, Clinton has an 11-point lead over Trump, 49 percent to 38 percent, according to a University of New Hampshire poll released Monday. This poll could be an outlier, however, since most recent polling from the state has shown Clinton with a slight lead, if not tied with Trump.

In terms of odds, Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight has Clinton with a 65.5 percent chance of winning the election and Trump at 34.5 percent. The New York Times' Upshot gives Clinton a much higher chance at 84 percent to Trump's 16 percent.

In recent national polling averages, Clinton leads head-to-head match-ups against Trump, with the Democrat holding 46.8 percent support compared to 44.3 percent for the New York businessman, according to averages compiled by RealClear Politics.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.