Suffolk Poll: Clinton Leads Trump in Nevada, Stays Flat as Trump Falls

Hillary Clinton delivered a speech in Reno, Nevada on Thursday August 25, 2016 attempting to link Donald Trump and his supporters to the “alt right” racism. (Photo: Associated Press/AP)

Democrat Hillary Clinton has widened her lead in a Suffolk University Poll in Nevada to 6 points, 44% to 38%, following the first presidential debate. Trump still leads on the average of polls, but that lead is now down from 2 points to under 0.8%, making the state move from LEANS TRUMP to BATTLEGROUND on the 2016 PPD Presidential Election Projection Model.

“There are many positive data points for Hillary Clinton in this poll,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston. “The only reasonably good news for Donald Trump is that Clinton’s 44 percent number never moved in the head-to-head matchup. Trump’s number dropped from 42 percent in August to 38 percent today, but he lost many of his voters to Gary Johnson, not Clinton.”

While the former secretary of state’s margin is up from 2 points in their August survey, the lead comes entirely from the New York businessman falling among women.

Nevada voters said that the number one issue facing the next president is jobs/economy (23%), followed by terrorism and national security (20%), choosing Supreme Court nominees (11%), and education (7%), which has moved up several notches to fourth place since August. When voters were asked if they feel more or less safe living in America than they did five to 10 years ago, 48% said less safe, 12 percent more safe, and 38% said no change.