Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton are locked in tight contests in three key swing states, with Mr. Trump holding a 4-point edge in Ohio and Mrs. Clinton maintaining 1-point leads in Florida and Pennsylvania, according to polls released Tuesday.
Mr. Trump had a 4-point, 43 percent to 39 percent, lead over Mrs. Clinton in Ohio, while Mrs. Clinton had 1-point, 43 percent to 42 percent, leads in Florida and Pennsylvania, according to the Quinnipiac University polling.
“Six months from Election Day, the presidential races between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the three most crucial states, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, are too close to call,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Poll.
“At this juncture, Trump is doing better in Pennsylvania than the GOP nominees in 2008 and 2012,” Mr. Brown said. “And the two candidates are about where their party predecessors were at this point in Ohio and Florida.”
The candidates’ leads were within the margin of error, which was plus or minus 3 percentage points for each state.
There were clear gender and racial gaps in each state, with men and white voters breaking for Mr. Trump, and women and nonwhite voters supporting Mrs. Clinton.
A majority of voters in each state said Mr. Trump would do a better job handling the economy, and pluralities in Ohio and Florida said he would do a better job handling terrorism. Voters in Pennsylvania gave him a 1-point edge on terrorism, 47 percent to 46 percent.
Both candidates had negative favorability ratings in all three states — though Mr. Trump’s were slightly better in two of the three.
In Ohio, Mr. Trump had a 36 percent/57 percent favorable/unfavorable split, while Mrs. Clinton had a 34 percent/62 percent split.
In Pennsylvania, Mr. Trump had a 39 percent/55 percent favorable/unfavorable split, and Mrs. Clinton had a 37 percent/58 percent favorable/unfavorable split.
In Florida, they both had 37 percent/57 percent favorable/unfavorable splits.
A majority of voters in each state also gave the two candidates poor marks on honesty and trustworthiness, though Mr. Trump’s numbers were better than Mrs. Clinton’s in each state.
Sixty-nine percent of Ohio voters, 66 percent of Florida voters, and 67 percent of Pennsylvania voters said Mrs. Clinton is not honest and trustworthy. Meanwhile, 58 percent of Ohio voters, 57 percent of Florida voters, and 55 percent of Pennsylvania voters said Mr. Trump is not honest and trustworthy.
Mr. Trump also outscored Mrs. Clinton in all three states on having strong leadership qualities.
Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, scored higher on having the right kind of temperament and personality to handle an international crisis, having higher moral standards, and intelligence.
Sen. Bernard Sanders, who Mrs. Clinton is still competing against in the Democratic primary, performed better against Mr. Trump in all three states.
Mr. Sanders led Mr. Trump by 2 points in Ohio, 43 percent to 41 percent; he led by 2 points in Florida, 44 percent to 42 percent; and he led by 6 points in Pennsylvania, 47 percent to 41 percent.
Mr. Sanders also had significantly better favorability ratings than both Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton. He had a 45 percent/40 percent split in Ohio, a 43 percent/41 percent split in Florida, and a 50 percent/36 percent split in Pennsylvania.
The polling was conducted from April 27-May 8. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas announced he was suspending his presidential campaign on May 3 and Ohio Gov. John Kasich did the same on May 4, clearing the way for Mr. Trump as the lone remaining candidate on the GOP side.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.