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Ohio poll: Donald Trump has narrow lead over Clinton

Posted at 9:55 AM, Sep 14, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-14 09:55:43-04

(CNN) — Donald Trump has opened up a five-point lead over Hillary Clinton in Ohio, according to a new Bloomberg poll released Wednesday.

In a four-way race with third party candidates, the survey found Trump topping Clinton, 44%-39%, among the state’s likely voters. Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein picked up the support of 10% and 3%, respectively.

Both Johnson and Stein will be on the ballot in Ohio, though Johnson will be listed as an independent and not as a libertarian.

The poll was conducted Friday through Monday and could possibly serve be the first indicator of Clinton’s turbulent weekend. At a fundraiser in New York City on Friday night, the former secretary of state told a crowd of donors that “you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.” She later said she regretted saying half. And on Sunday, Clinton was wobbly after she left a 9/11 anniversary ceremony early, an episode her campaign ultimately attributed to a pneumonia diagnosis, though the poll was mostly conducted before Sunday’s incident.

But the Bloomberg poll is also not the first recent survey to show Trump gaining in Ohio, where Clinton had boasted fairly consistent leads for much of the summer. The findings continue what has been a general tightening in the race after Clinton emerged with sizable leads both nationally and in swing states in the weeks following the Democratic National Convention.

A possible sign of the tightening race, Clinton’s campaign announced it will open six more campaign offices in the Buckeye State this week, bringing the total number of Democratic offices in Ohio to 54.

Perhaps no battleground is more important than Ohio, which has been carried by every winning presidential nominee since 1964. And no Republican has ever won the presidency without also winning the state.

The Bloomberg poll was conducted September 9-12 using phone interviews with 802 likely Ohio voters. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percent.