The major parties' front-runners, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, are neck-and-neck, according to a
new ABC News-Washington Post poll.
Democrat Clinton registers 46 percent support to Republican Trump's 43 percent, according to the poll, which has a 3.5 percent plus/minus margin of error.
When all adults are counted, Clinton's advantage rises to 51-39 over Trump. The Post points out that while more members of the general public identify as Democrats, the party has had trouble getting their supporters to the polls.
Clinton, once thought to be headed toward her party's coronation, has seen her support plummet
amid questions about her private email server. Meanwhile, Trump has been surging among
Republican voters in an unorthodox campaign of personal attacks, the success of which has been attributed to conservative base voters who are tired of being ignored by the establishment.
Trump actually leads Clinton among registered independents. Though Clinton leads among all independents 45-39, Trump has the advantage among those who vote. He leads Clinton 44-39 among them.
Each candidate also has strong support among their party's voters. Clinton has the support of 83 percent of all Democrats, and 82 percent of registered Democrats. Trump has 73 percent of all Republicans and 76 percent of registered Republicans.
Trump is a divisive figure in the GOP, but the dislike of Clinton among the party's voters is so high, they rally to Trump's side in a Clinton-Trump matchup, the Post notes.
Clinton does fare far better among Hispanics, who don't like Trump's strong anti-illegal immigration stance. She takes 69 percent of Hispanic support to Trump's 21 percent.
The 48 percent margin is similar to President Barack Obama's 44 percent lead with Hispanics over Mitt Romney in 2012.
"Clinton maintains an advantage among all registered voters in this poll even though independents tilt toward Trump because there are more people who identify as Democrats than Republicans, and those Democrats are more firmly behind Clinton," the Post writes.
"This phenomenon was apparent in the 2012 election, when Mitt Romney topped Barack Obama by five points among independents, but still lost by four percentage points."