Hillary Clinton has surged to a 11-point lead against Donald Trump, 43-32, in a four-way race for Michigan following the first presidential debate.
The new Detroit Free Press/WXYZ-TV poll also showed Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson polling at 10 percentage points and the Green Party’s Jill Stein at 3 points.
In a head-to-head race, Clinton also led Trump by 10 percentage points, 46-36, in the Free Press poll.
“The race is much more settled now no matter what demographic group you’re looking at,” said Bernie Porn, pollster for EPIC-MRA that performed the survey, to the Free Press. “It’s hard to imagine (Clinton losing Michigan) unless Hillary has a health (or some other) issue … I think the perceptions of Trump are pretty baked in.”
But the Michigan race had appeared much tighter in recent months. Before the first presidential debate, a Free Press poll from mid-September showed Clinton leading by 3 percentage points, 38-35, in a survey sample with a 4-percentage-point margin of error. While the race looked to be effectively tied then, Clinton has widened her lead among younger voters and African Americans.
The new Free Press telephone-based poll surveyed 600 likely voters from Oct. 1-3.
