Quinnipiac poll shows Biden up 3 points in Florida

Former Vice President Joe Biden holds a narrow lead over President Trump in Florida, according to a new Quinnipiac University Poll survey, the latest to show the Democratic presidential nominee with a slight advantage in the nation’s largest swing state.

With five days to go until Election Day, Biden has the support of 45 percent of likely voters in the Sunshine State, while Trump notches 42 percent support. Another 11 percent of respondents said they are either undecided or declined to name their preference. 

Biden holds an 18-point lead over Trump among independents, who made up about a third of the state’s electorate in 2016 when they broke for Trump over then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Biden also leads Trump with Black voters 71 percent to 9 percent, according to the Quinnipiac poll. 

But unlike other battleground states, where Biden has amassed a sizable lead among white college graduates, he carries only a 4-point advantage with those voters in Florida. 

Biden’s support among Hispanic voters in Florida is also somewhat softer than that of Clinton, who carried those voters 62 percent to 35 percent four years ago. Biden now leads Trump with Hispanic voters 50 percent to 34 percent, according to the Quinnipiac poll. 

Florida is among the biggest Election Day prizes, with 29 electoral votes up for grabs. It’s also a must-win state for Trump, who carried it in 2016 by only 113,000 votes, or about 1 percentage point.

A win for Biden in Florida would deal a devastating blow to the president’s chances of winning a second term and could portend deeper losses for Trump in other key battleground states. 

In a show of the importance the campaigns have placed on Florida, both Trump and Biden campaigned in the state on Thursday. 

The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,324 likely voters in Florida from Oct. 23-27. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.