New polls show Hillary Clinton slipping in Florida

WASHINGTON – Hillary Clinton is slipping in Florida, new polls suggest.

A Suffolk University poll released Thursday has Republican Donald Trump leading the former secretary of state 45-44%, a statistical tie. Libertarian Gary Johnson had 3% and Green Party’s Jill Stein had 1%.

Last month, the same poll showed Clinton 4 points ahead of Trump in a four-way race.

The new Suffolk survey dovetails with a Monmouth University poll released Tuesday. The Monmouth poll shows Clinton leading Trump by 5 points (46%-41%) in a four-way race, down from the 9-point edge she enjoyed in an August Monmouth poll.

The numbers come after a rough spell for the former first lady. Her recent bout with pneumonia raised questions about her health, and she was criticized for calling half of Trump's followers a "basket of deplorables."

Trump, meanwhile, has been more a more disciplined campaigner than he's been in the past.

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“Hillary Clinton’s support remains in the mid-forties, but she has lost her August lead because Donald Trump is aggregating previous undecided and Johnson supporters in his camp,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston. “One of the more striking findings is that Florida voters don't perceive Hillary Clinton as easy a winner as they did in August.”

The Monmouth University Poll, which interviewed 400 likely Florida voters from September 16-19, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. The Suffolk University Poll, which interviewed 500 likely voters Sept. 19-21, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 points.

With 29 electoral votes, Florida remains the nation’s biggest swing state in the presidential contest.

The Suffolk University Poll also showed GOP incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio with a 9-point lead (43%-34%) in his re-election race against Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy. That’s a slightly wider lead for Rubio than other polls have shown but it’s less than the 13-point margin (46%-33%) he enjoyed in a poll Suffolk conducted in August.

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The poll also showed that Florida voters:

-- Overwhelmingly support a state constitutional amendment allowing doctors to prescribe medical marijuana for patients with specific debilitating diseases. That’s above the 60% threshold needed to pass the amendment. It failed two years ago, drawing 57% despite polls showing much higher public support.

-- Say they're very concerned (32%) or somewhat concerned (38%) about the spread of the Zika virus. As of Wednesday, the Florida Department of Health had reported 867 Zika cases, more than any other state.

-- Have a generally negative view of President Obama’s job performance. Recent national polls show rising approval ratings for Obama, but 49% gave him a thumbs-down in the Suffolk poll compared to 46% who approved of his performance. In last month’s Suffolk poll, 48% approved while 45% disapproved.

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Contributing: Eliza Collins, USA TODAY