Clinton holds 7-point lead in Michigan in new poll
Despite visits to Michigan in recent weeks, Donald Trump continues to trail Hillary Clinton in the state by a wide margin, with a poll released Thursday showing her ahead by 7 points even though many voters remain concerned about her trustworthiness.
The poll released by Suffolk University showed Clinton continuing to hold substantial leads among women and minority voters in Michigan that put her ahead of Trump 44%-37% overall, despite his holding a 14-point edge among white voters.
“It’s a solid lead,” said David Paleologos, director of Suffolk University’s Political Research Center, who noted that she holds a 54%-28% lead in southeastern Michigan, the most populated part of the state. “She’s winning in all the right places. … She doesn’t have to win a lot of counties in Michigan to prevail.”
Trump’s campaign has given every indication since the end of the Republican convention in Cleveland last month that Michigan is a battleground, giving two speeches in the state. His campaign also is talking about another visit to Detroit early next month with Dr. Ben Carson, who is advising the campaign and grew up in Motown.
But the Suffolk poll — for which 500 likely voters were surveyed from Monday through Wednesday of this week — indicated that Trump continues to struggle in the state, especially among female voters, who supported Clinton 54%-32%. Men favored Trump but by a smaller margin, 43%-33%.
The poll asked voters for presidential preferences among six candidates to be listed on Michigan’s ballot and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points, though that figure would be larger for subgroups.
Clinton’s lead over Trump among minority voters in Michigan — 74%-10% — comes as Trump has made overtures to black voters in Detroit and elsewhere around the U.S. Speaking to a mostly-white audience in Dimondale, Mich., last Friday, Trump urged black voters to swing their support to him, saying, “You live in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. What the hell do you have to lose?"
Trump’s comments were widely panned by Democrats and some black leaders, as were earlier comments comparing Mexicans to rapists and criminals. It is widely accepted that in Michigan and other potential swing states, he’ll need to cut into Clinton’s lead among minority voters to win. Michigan hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since George H.W. Bush in 1988.
Despite Clinton's clear lead, however, voters doubted her trustworthiness in the face of continued reports of emails that showed Clinton Foundation donors may have had extra access to her while she was secretary of State. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed — 63% — said Clinton was not trustworthy, including 56% of the women surveyed.
For more on the poll, see the Detroit Free Press.