LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. — A new national poll from The New York Times and Siena College shows that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has a nine-point lead over President Donald Trump.
According to the poll that was released Tuesday morning, Biden leads Trump 50% to 41% among likely voters. That's a slight increase from a month ago when Biden led Trump 49% to 41% among likely voters.
"When we look at the presidential race nationally — not battleground states and the Electoral College — it is clear that despite the first presidential debate, a presidential coronavirus diagnosis and hospitalization and many other events, little has changed in the dynamics of the race, Dr. Don Levy, the director of Siena College's Research Institute. "Biden has a nine-point lead, right at 50%, up from eight points last month. He continues to have a positive favorability rating, as Trump's continues to be negative."
While comfortably ahead in national polls, the 2020 presidential race will be decided by a series of key battleground states. Trump won the 2016 election despite losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton 46% to 48%.
According to the poll, nearly one-third of voters have already cast their ballots. The poll found that 38% of Democrats have already voted, while 34% of independents cast their ballots, adding that only 20% of Republicans voted early.
"Nearly one-third of those likely to vote in the presidential election have already voted. Democrats and independents are much more likely than Republicans to have already voted at this point. Among the remainder of likely voters, half plan to vote in person on election day, one-quarter plan to vote in person before election day and one-quarter plan to vote by mail," Levy said.
"Among the 31 percent who have already voted, they support Biden by a huge 67-26 percent margin," Levy said. "The likely voters who have yet to vote, 68 percent, support Trump 48-43%."
You can review the poll's findings here.
This story was originally published by Paul Ross on WKBW in Buffalo, New York.