Hillary Clinton was ahead of Donald Trump is several key battleground state polls on Friday following Monday's debate — with leads as high as 7 points each in Michigan and New Hampshire and as slim as one point in Florida.
The results pushed Clinton's overall lead to 3 points, at 47-44 percent, in the RealClearPolitics average of surveys.
In one national poll, however, Trump beat the Democrat by 5 points, 47-42 percent, in the Los Angeles Times/USC Daily Tracking Poll.
But in another national tally, the Rasmussen Reports daily White House Watch survey, Clinton finished ahead by a point.
Many voters told pollsters that Clinton won the showdown at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
"The problem for Trump is the debate was the prime opportunity to shift that perception that he wasn't qualified," pollster Richard Czuba, president of the Glengariff Group Inc., told the Detroit News. "That should have been their No. 1 goal in the debate to come off as a qualified, calm leader.
Czuba's firm conducted The Detroit News-WDIV-TV Poll, which found Clinton ahead of Trump by 7 points in the Wolverine State.
"In the next debate, he's going to have to focus on this issue," he said.
Clinton and Trump will debate next on Oct. 9 at Washington University in St. Louis.
Clinton's largest leads are in Michigan and New Hampshire. Here is the breakdown of those surveys:
New Hampshire, of 502 likely voters in the WBUR-FM/MassInc. Poll:
- Clinton: 42 percent.
- Trump: 35 percent.
- Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson: 13 percent.
- Green Party candidate Jill Stein: 4 percent.
Michigan, of 600 likely voters in the News-WDIV-TV poll:
- Clinton: 42 percent.
- Trump: 35 percent.
- Johnson: 9 percent.
- Stein: 3 percent.
In Nevada, the former secretary of state led Trump by 6 points in a survey of 500 voters by Suffolk University:
- Clinton: 44 percent.
- Trump: 38 percent.
- Johnson: 7 percent.
In Florida, Clinton topped Trump by 4 points among 820 registered voters in the Mason-Dixon Poll:
- Clinton: 46 percent.
- Trump: 42 percent.
- Johnson: 7 percent.
- Stein: 1 percent.
In another survey of Sunshine State votes, the Fox 13/Opinion Savvy poll, Clinton beat Trump by one point.
The sample consisted of 619 likely voters:
- Clinton: 47 percent.
- Trump: 46 percent.
- Johnson: 4 percent.
- Stein: 2 percent.
Here are the results of the Rasmussen survey:
- Clinton: 43 percent.
- Trump: 42 percent.
- Johnson: 6 percent.
- Stein: 2 percent.
The surveys were generally conducted between Tuesday and Thursday, with margins of error ranging from 3.5 percent to 4.4 percent.
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