New Quinnipiac University poll finds 61 percent of Florida voters view Trump unfavorably

♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitcs.com editor

GAINESVILLE, Florida (CFP) — Buoyed by a nearly 20 point advantage among women, Hillary Clinton has opened up an 8 point lead over Donald Trump in the key battleground state of Florida, a new poll shows.

A Quinniapiac University poll of Florida voters, released June 21, put Clinton at 47 percent to 39 percent for Trump, well beyond the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Compared to the same poll in May, Clinton was up 4 points and Trump was down 3 points, and what had been a statistical dead heat has turned into a solid Clinton lead.

Another question in the polls shows the uphill fight Trump may be facing in November in Florida: An outright majority of Florida voters, 52 percent, had a strongly unfavorable view of the GOP nominee and another 9 percent had a somewhat unfavorable view, for an unfavorability total of 61 percent.

Trump’s unfavorability also registered among his fellow Republicans in Florida, with 26 percent of them saying their view of him was strongly or somewhat unfavorable.

By contrast, 45 percent of voters have a strongly unfavorable view of Clinton and 8 percent viewed her somewhat unfavorably, for an unfavorability total of 53 percent. However, Clinton is viewed much more favorably by Democrats than Trump is among Republicans, with just 14 percent of them viewing her unfavorably.

Florida is a vital key to winning the White House in November. In the last 50 years, only one candidate has been elected president without carrying the Sunshine State–Bill Clinton in 1992.

The new poll found a significant gender gap that tilts in Clinton’s direction She leads Trump among women by 18 points; Trump led among men, but only by 4 points.

Clinton also enjoyed a lead of  lead of nine points among self-described independents and was ahead by nearly 60 points among non-white voters. Trump had a 15-point lead among white voters.

Quinniapiac surveyed 975 Florida voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.