Hillary Clinton enters the final month before Election Day with a 10-point lead over Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state that has become less promising for the Republican presidential nominee since his performance in the first debate.
The latest Monmouth University poll of likely voters in Pennsylvania shows Clinton edging Trump 50-40 percent in the Keystone State, marking a 2-point gain since late August. Five percent of voters currently support Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, while 2 percent back Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
Trump has seen a slight decline in his support among white voters, losing 3 percentage points since August and falling behind Clinton 46-45 percent. Meanwhile, Clinton has surged among white women since August, going from 46 percent support to 55 percent.
Despite losing ground among women and white men, Trump has grown his support among independents from 39 to 43 percent in a little over a month. He now leads Clinton 43-38 percent among independent voters.
Trump’s campaign has counted on carrying a significant portion of the vote in western Pennsylvania in order to counteract Clinton’s lead in Philadelphia and its suburbs. But the latest poll shows Clinton taking a narrow 3-point lead in the area of the state that is most important to Trump.
The former secretary of state continues to carry a double-digit lead in the seven congressional districts surrounding Philadelphia, while Trump leads by 17 percentage points in Pennsylvania’s northeastern and central parts.
Since the first presidential debate last Monday, far more voters see Clinton (64 percent) as temperamentally fit to be president versus Trump (31 percent). The Democratic presidential hopeful has also seen a slight improvement in her favorability rating, while Trump’s has gotten worse.
The Monmouth poll of 402 Pennsylvania voters was conducted from Sept. 30-Oct. 3, just after the first presidential debate and before Tuesday’s vice presidential debate between Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. Results contain a margin of error plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
