New national poll has Clinton, Trump in virtual tie

WASHINGTON, June 29 (UPI) -- A new national Quinnipiac University poll shows that the race for the White House is in a virtual deadlock.

Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump by 2 percentage points, 42 percent to 40 percent, the difference within the margin of error for the poll at 2.4 percent.

When third-party candidates are included, Clinton leads Trump 39 percent to 37 percent, with Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson at 8 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 4 percent.

The findings contrast starkly with other recent polls, which showed Clinton widening her lead over the presumptive GOP nominee.

In a Washington Post-ABC poll released Sunday, Clinton led by 12 points (51 percent to 39 percent), while an NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll had the Democrat with an 8 point margin (49 percent to 41 percent).

A RealClear Politics average of recent national polls puts Clinton ahead of Trump in a two-way race at 45.3 percent to 39.1 percent. In a four-way race, she leads Trump 42.3 percent to 36.8 percent.

Wednesday's poll also found the majority of voters think that neither candidate would make a good president. Trump had a 58 percent negativity rating, and Clinton 53 percent.

The election has increased the level of hatred and prejudice in the United States, said 61 percent of U.S. voters polled. Of those, 67 percent said that it was Trump's fault and 16 percent blamed Clinton.

"It would be difficult to imagine a less flattering from-the-gut reaction to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

"This is where we are. Voters find themselves in the middle of a mean-spirited, scorched-earth campaign between two candidates they don't like. And they don't think either candidate would be a good president."

The poll found a similar gender divide as previous surveys: Clinton wins among women, 50 percent to 33 percent, while Trump has the advantage with men, 47 percent to 34 percent.

He is also ahead by the same margin with white voters, while Clinton wins African-American voters by a staggering 91 percent to 1 percent, and Hispanic voters, 50 percent to 33 percent.

The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,610 registered voters between June 21-27

Meanwhile, a poll by Ballotpedia has Clinton winning in seven swing states that are likely to decide the outcome of the election.

Her largest lead was by 17 points in Michigan (50 percent to 33 percent), followed by double-digit leads in Florida (14 points), Pennsylvania (14 points) and North Carolina (10 points). In Ohio, Clinton had a 9-point advantage, followed by a 7-point lead and Virginia and 4 points in Iowa.

The Ballotpedia poll was conducted from June 10-22 with a margin of error of 4 points in all states, part from Ohio and Virginia, which had a margin of error of 3.9 points.