Which means the general election campaign officially begins tomorrow. Which means it's only a matter of time until Floridians, residents of the biggest swing state prize, are bombarded with campaign ads, rallies, and lots of phone banker calls.
A new poll from Public Policy Polling reinforces the idea that Florida will remain as competitive as ever. Clinton and Donald Trump are virtually tied in the state, PPP has found.
The results show Trump narrowly edging out Clinton 45-44. That's a statistical tie, and not that dissimilar from other recent polls, although most of the others show the Florida race leading ever so slightly in Clinton's favor. It's also worth noting that the poll was conducted amongst all registered voters (and not likely
In a separate question, the poll threw Green Party nominee Jill Stein and Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson into the mix. The result was still a virtual tie between Trump and Clinton:
Hillary Clinton 40%PPP also tossed Bernie Sanders into the mix. Though most others polls found Sanders did slightly worse than Clinton in the state, this one showed Sanders doing a bit better. He's at 46-43 in the head-to-head poll against Trump. The two are tied at 40 percent each when the minor candidates are thrown in.
Donald Trump 41%
Gary Johnson 4%
Jill Stein 2%
Not sure 13%
In the Clinton-Trump matchup, most of the demographic breakdowns are pretty predictable. Clinton has wide leads amongst Hispanics, African Americans, and those 18 to 29 years old.
Clinton also leads among self-described moderates 51-32 and Independents 45-34.
Trump leads among whites, and those 46 and older.
Interestingly, Trump and Clinton get the same 45-44 split among men and women.
Elsewhere in politics, the poll finds that Marco Rubio would not be assured of reelection even if he decided to re-enter the race.
"PPP's new Florida poll finds that Marco Rubio remains quite unpopular in the state in the wake of his unsuccessful presidential
He's statistically tied with leading Democratic nominee Rep. Patrick Murphy 43-44, with Murphy getting the one point advantage.
Murphy also leads among all the remaining Republican candidates. He's 44-29 against Rep. Patrick
Rep. Alan Grayson, Murphy's Democratic primary challenger, also has