Voters in five battleground states declared Hillary Clinton the winner of this week’s debate against Donald Trump, boosting her fortunes in those key races, a new poll showed Thursday.
A majority of voters in Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia all told Public Policy Polling that Clinton got the better of Trump in their first showdown.
The Public Policy poll was taken Tuesday and Wednesday, giving voters at least one night to digest Monday’s slugfest at Hofstra University.
Clinton’s debate also helped her bounce to leads in all five states, according to the poll.
In four-way races that include the Libertarian and Green Party candidates, Clinton led Trump in Virginia and Colorado by identical margins of 46 to 40 percent.
She was also ahead in Pennsylvania (45 to 39 percent), Florida (45 to 43 percent) and North Carolina (44 to 42 percent).
“Clinton has solid leads in Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Virginia — states seen as important to her path to 270 electoral votes — and modest leads in Florida and North Carolina, where wins would be indicative of a dominant overall victory in the Electoral College,” said pollster Tom Jensen.
“If these results hold up, Donald Trump has no path to victory.”
Pollsters interviewed 694 likely voters in Colorado with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points; 826 in Florida with plus or minus 3.4 percentage points; 861 in North Carolina with plus or minus 3.3 percentage points; 886 in Pennsylvania with plus or minus 3.3 percentage points; and 811 in Virginia with plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.