Hillary Clinton has opened up a 7-point lead over Donald Trump in North Carolina, a state Trump desperately needs to win to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House in November.
According to a newly-released survey by the New York Times’ Upshot section and Siena College, Clinton leads by 7 points, taking 46 percent support to Trump’s 39 percent. Libertarian Gary Johnson takes 8 percent support. Green Party nominee Jill Stein is not in the ballot in the key swing state.
Recommended Stories
In over a month since the latest NYT Upshot/Siena poll, Clinton has gone from tied with Trump to her current position with just two weeks until election day. In the previous poll, the two were tied at 41 percent.
The change came after Clinton was widely viewed as the winner of the debates she held with Trump, and the release of a video in which Trump made lewd comments about women. Since the video emerged, a cavalcade of women have accused Trump of groping them, all of which he denies.
A loss in North Carolina would all but end Trump’s chances to win the White House. The campaign has keyed in on North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania and reallocated resources to those states ahead of election day.
At the moment, Clinton holds a 2.1-point national lead over Trump, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average.
