Trump surges among independent voters

Donald Trump has found new support from independent voters, which allowed him to close the gap in a new nationwide poll.

According to a Monmouth University poll released Monday, Trump leads Hillary Clinton 40-31 among independents, a 9-point lead just a month after the same poll said the two candidates were tied among those voters.

That gain allowed Trump to get within the margin of error against Clinton. Among likely voters, Clinton stood still in July and was the choice of 45 percent of those polled.

But Trump jumped up 6 points and is supported by 43 percent. Clinton’s 2-point lead nationwide is less than the 3.7 percent margin of error.

The good news for Trump comes days after the FBI said Clinton and her team were “extremely careless” with how it handled classified information while she was secretary of state.Among all registered voters, Clinton holds a 43-40 lead today, which means Trump cut her lead from June in half. The poll also found that support for a third-party candidate has dwindled, as it dropped from 15 percent in June to 9 percent in July.

Clinton grabs 88 percent support among Democrats surveyed, and Trump has 81 percent of Republicans on his side.

Neither candidate is seen favorably by a majority of registered voters. However, Trump’s favorability level rose to 31 percent from its 28 percent level in June. Clinton’s dropped by 2 points over that time, from 36 percent to 34 percent.

The landline and cellphone poll was conducted July 14-16, surveying 805 registered voters with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Among the 688 likely voters, the margin of error is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.