The US presidential race continues to tighten in the last two weeks of the campaign, as Donald Trump erases most of the once vaunted seven-point lead his opponent, Hillary Clinton, had amassed earlier this month.
While Clinton led Trump by a whopping 7.1 points on average according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls just 12 days ago, on Sunday her lead had fallen to just 3.4 points.
The most dramatic decline came in the ABC/WashingtonPost poll, where one week ago Clinton was given a whopping 12-point lead, 50% - 38%. Today the same tracking poll showed a virtual dead heat, with Clinton barely leading Trump, 46% to 45%.
But this shift took place almost entirely prior to Friday’s announcement the FBI was reopening the investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s handling of classified government documents.
Of the eight polls included in the RCP average, just one – the Investors Business Daily/TIPP tracking poll included any input after the announcement, and then only one day of a six-day survey.
According to the aforementioned ABC/Washington Post poll, more than one third (34%) of likely voters said the FBI’s announcement made them less likely to vote for Hillary Clinton, compared to just 2% who said they were more likely to vote for her. Sixty-three percent said it made no difference at this point.
Trump leads Clinton in the latest state polling in Florida, Ohio, and Iowa, with a New York Times/Siena poll giving the Republican a four-point lead in the Sunshine State.