Hillary Clinton Leading Trump in Ohio by 9 Points, Says New Baldwin Wallace Poll

BEREA, OH - Democratic nominee for president Hillary Clinton has pulled away from her opponent, Donald Trump, in Ohio, according to a new Baldwin Wallace and Community Research Institute (CRI) poll. The new poll finds Clinton leading by 9 points among likely Ohio voters.

Third party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein are pulling about 12 percent of the vote, with Johnson polling at 9.5 percent.

According to a statement on Baldwin Wallace's website, Clinton is winning Independents, 36 percent to Trump’s 30 percent, and attracting one in ten Republican voters.

The Democratic nominee was propelled forward by a winning second debate performance that increased her likeability. More than half of Ohioans said they felt Clinton had won the debate, and 31 percent said they now have a more favorable opinion of the candidate post-debate.

More Ohioans also said that Clinton, in the debate, was more likable, expressed her views more clearly, seemed to be a stronger leader and spent more time discussing policy. Meanwhile, they felt Trump spent more time attacking his opponent.

However, while Clinton may be celebrating her newfound lead in the Buckeye state, there are reasons for concern among Democrats. Nearly half of her supporters, 47 percent, say their vote is less about supporting Clinton and more about stopping Trump.

For the third-party candidates, particularly Johnson, the collective dislike of both candidates has spurred more voters toward their campaigns. Nearly 75 percent of voters who said they would support either Stein or Johnson said they would do so because of their dislike of both major party candidates.

“A large percentage of Ohio’s electorate is most passionate about who should not be president,” Tom Sutton, BW political science professor and director of the BW CRI, said in a statement. “The core support for each of the major party candidates has stayed largely unchanged, but the bad news for Trump is that more of the undecideds — and some third party supporters — who are now coming off the fence are moving to Clinton.”

In recent national polling, Hillary Clinton leads head-to-head match-ups against Trump, with the Democrat holding 48.1 percent support compared to 41.6 percent for the New York businessman, according to averages compiled by RealClear Politics.

Photos by Rick Uldricks/Patch