Donald Trump has been gaining on Hillary Clinton in national polls, but both candidates face challenges in certain battleground states as the election enters September.
"They're both hitting ceilings of support because of their hugely negative favorability ratings," Republican pollster David Winston told The Hill. "The challenge is figuring out how to get people who don’t like them at all to get out and vote for them."
For instance, Clinton led Trump by 4.3 percent in the Real Clear Politics average of polls on Tuesday — down from 7.6 percent on Aug. 9.
Trump has been eating away at Clinton's steady 50 percent share of support that she was carrying in the last six national polls, according to The Hill. This has presented an opportunity for the Republican nominee.
"It’s not in the bag for her yet," Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University poll, told The Hill.
A NBC News-Survey Monkey poll released Tuesday shows Clinton's lead down to 4 points, from 6 points earlier this month.
Trump has also narrowed the Democrat's lead in the Reuters-Ipsos and Monmouth polls released this week, even though he still trails by 3 points and 7 points, respectively, The Hill reports.
Among battleground states, Trump is competitive to Clinton in Florida and Ohio, but he is facing a tougher challenge in Pennsylvania.
Otherwise, Clinton is leading the Republican in Colorado, Wisconsin, Virginia and New Hampshire.
Trump is leading in Missouri and Arizona — and the candidates are locked in a virtual tie in Georgia, The Hill reports.
However, nothing is guaranteed in this race, the pollsters told the newspaper.
"The thing that could throw all this off is that we’re looking at an ahistorical election," Murray said. "We’ve never seen two candidates who are this unpopular.
"That’s the wild card."
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