Presidential races

Sanders fundraises off swing-state polling

by Jesse Byrnes 05/11/16 02:15 PM ET

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is fundraising off swing-state polling that shows his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, without a strong lead over presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

{mosads}Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver sent an email to supporters warning of “terrifying poll results” showing Clinton edging Trump by just 1 point in Florida and Pennsylvania and trailing the businessman by 4 points in Ohio in hypothetical match-ups.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday shows Clinton leading Trump 43 percent to 42 percent in both Florida and Pennsylvania and trailing him 39 to 43 percent in Ohio.

Sanders fared slightly better against Trump in the poll for Florida, leading him 44 percent to 42 percent, and has a wider margin over Trump than Clinton in Pennsylvania, leading 47 to 41 percent. He also is shown to be narrowly ahead of Trump in Ohio, 43 to 41 percent.

“Bernie Sanders beats Donald Trump in every one of these swing states in the latest poll. Hillary Clinton loses Ohio, and polls behind Bernie in the other two states,” Weaver wrote in another variation of the email sent out to supporters.

Clinton’s campaign also issued a fundraising email using the same polling.

The Clinton campaign’s email described polling as “erratic and unreliable” and said: “These polls don’t predict the future. We can change them by making sure voters know about Hillary’s vision for our country.”

Sanders has vowed to continue his campaign until the party’s convention in July, touting his polling in general election match-ups and “momentum” in an effort to woo superdelegates who have supported Clinton. The Democratic front-runner has secured 3 million more votes than the Vermont senator in the primary season.