Poll: Clinton and Trump run neck-and-neck

June 29, 2016 at 08:29

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

Washington (CNN) A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Hillary Clinton leading Trump by just two points, 42% to 40%, a much closer race than other recent surveys have shown.

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

This Quinnipiac poll is quite different from other recent surveys on the presidential race, showing a much tighter contest than others. Its field period overlaps with those of the Washington Post/ABC News and NBC News /Wall Street Journal polls released Sunday, both of which found Clinton significantly ahead of Trump.

Nightcap: Trump takes on Clinton — and Big Business — on trade | Sign up

The difference is primarily in the polls' estimate of Clinton's standing in the race: All three found Trump within the margin of error of the other estimates (at 40% in the Quinnipiac poll, 39% in the Washington Post/ABC News poll and 41% in NBC News /Wall Street Journal poll, no statistically significant differences there). But each of the three polls pegged Clinton's support as significantly different from the other two polls, with the low at 42% in the Quinnipiac poll, 46% in the NBC News /Wall Street Journal poll and the high of 51% in Washington Post/ABC News poll.

CNN's latest Poll of Polls, spanning surveys conducted June 15-27, has Clinton ahead, 47% to 40%.
Quinnipiac found an alarming statistic: 61% of those surveyed say the 2016 election has increased the level of hatred and prejudice in the United States -- compared to just 34% who say it has had no impact.

Of that 61%, 67% blame Trump and 16% blame Clinton.
The survey also found a majority of voters -- 58% for Trump, and 53% for Clinton -- said each would not be a good president.

Clinton allies to hit Trump with $13 million in ad spending

"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, in a memo accompanying the poll results. "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% to 33%, while Trump has the advantage with men, 47% to 34%. -- He is also ahead by the same margin with white voters, while Clinton wins African-American voters, 91% to 1%, and Hispanic voters, 50% to 33%.

Road to 270: The 2016 Electoral Map

The poll surveyed 1,610 registered voters between June 21-27 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

CNN's Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.