WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - New polls conducted following the first presidential debate show Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton leading Republican rival Donald Trump in three potentially key battleground states.
The polls showed Clinton with a four-point lead over Trump in Florida and seven-point advantages in both New Hampshire and Michigan.
A Mason-Dixon Polling & Research poll showed Clinton with a 46 percent to 42 percent advantage over Trump in Florida. The four-point gap is just outside the poll's margin of error but is wider than the two-point lead Clinton held last month.
The poll also found that Libertarian Gary Johnson is supported by 7 percent of likely Florida voters, while just 1 percent back Green Party candidate Jill Stein and 4 percent remain undecided.
'Despite small shifts that have given Clinton a post-debate bump, the race is still very competitive and the outcome will hinge on where and among whom voter turnout is higher,' said Mason-Dixon Managing Director Brad Coker.
A separate WBUR poll found that 42 percent of likely New Hampshire voters support Clinton, while 35 percent back Trump. Johnson comes in third at 13 percent, and another 4 percent prefer Stein.
WBUR noted the survey also found that voters believe Clinton was the clear winner in Monday night's debate by a wide margin.
'She had what appeared to be a very good performance -- voters rated it very positively in the debates,' Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling Group, told WBUR. 'And seems to have stopped the slide that she was experiencing going into the debate.'
Additionally, the results of a Detroit News-WDIV-TV poll show Clinton with a 42 percent to 35 percent lead over Trump in Michigan, with Johnson at 9 percent and Stein at 3 percent. Nine percent remain undecided.
Likely Michigan voters were also more likely to say that Clinton won the first presidential debate, with 52 percent saying the former Secretary of State came out on top.
Michigan has voted for the Democratic candidate in each of the last six presidential elections, but Trump is hoping to put the state in play and is making his fifth visit to Michigan since accepting the nomination on Friday.
All three polls showed significant gender gaps, with women favoring Clinton and men backing Trump. The polls also showed that neither candidate is particularly well liked.
The Mason-Dixon survey of 820 likely Florida voters was conducted September 27th through 29th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
The WBUR poll of 502 likely New Hampshire voters was conducted by MassINC from September 27th through 29th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
The Detroit News-WDIV-TV survey of 600 likely Michigan voters was conducted by Glengariff Group from September 27th through 29th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
(Photo: Gage Skidmore)
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