President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden are tied in Florida, according to an NBC News/Marist poll released on Tuesday.
The poll of 767 likely voters conducted between August 31 and September 6 showed that President Trump has the support 48 percent of poll respondents and Biden also has the support of 48 percent of respondents. The poll has a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
The poll results contained two major surprises: Trump leads Biden among Latino voters, 50 percent to 46 percent, and Biden leads Trump among senior voters, 49 percent to 48 percent.
In 2016, Trump lost Latino voters in Florida to Hillary Clinton by a 17 point margin, 62 percent to 35 percent, according to NBC exit polls.
In that 2016 election, Trump beat Hillary Clinton among senior voters over the age of 65 in Florida by a 17 point margin, 57 percent to 40 percent.
Among the other key findings of the poll:
- Biden leads Trump among black voters by an 83 percent to 11 percent margin
- Trump leads Biden among white voters by a 56 percent to 41 percent margin
- Biden leads Trump among women voters by a 57 percent to 40 percent margin
- Trump leads Biden among men voters by a 58 percent to 38 percent margin
- Biden leads Trump among Independents by a 51 percent to 40 percent margin
The poll also addressed voter attitudes on which candidate was more capable of dealing with important national issues. According to the poll results, voters believe that President Trump is better able to deal with the economy and crime, while former Vice President Biden is better able to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and race relations.
- By a margin of 53 percent to 40 percent, poll respondents believed President Trump was better able to deal with the economy
- By a margin of 48 percent to 45 percent, poll respondents believed President Trump was better able to deal with crime
- By a margin of 49 percent to 40 percent, poll respondents believed former Vice President Biden was better able to deal with coronavirus
- By a margin of 51 percent to 37 percent, poll respondents believed former Vice President Biden was better able to deal with race relations
In a curiously phrased question that did not specifically mention the Black Lives Matter movement, poll respondents were asked “Which concerns you more: [t]he actions of police against George Floyd and Jacob Blake or [t]he actions of protesters looting or using violence?”
Forty-four percent of poll respondents said “the actions of police against George Floyd and Jacob Blake,” while 43 percent said “the actions of protesters looting or using violence.”
President Trump won Florida’s 29 electoral college votes in 2016, defeating Hillary Clinton by a margin of 1.3 points, 49.1 percent to 47.8 percent.
According to the Real Clear Politics Average of Polls, Biden currently leads Trump by 1.4 points in Florida.