FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Hillary Clinton supporters can take some comfort and find some reason for concern in a poll of Florida voters released Tuesday. Ditto for Donald Trump fans.
Clinton has a 5-point lead over Trump, but that's down from a 9-point advantage five weeks ago.
The Monmouth University Poll shows her with the support of 46 percent of likely voters. Trump has 41 percent, Libertarian Gary Johnson has 6 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein has 1 percent.
In August, the Monmouth poll had Clinton 2 points higher, with support from 48 percent of Florida voters, and Trump 2 points lower, with support from 39 percent. Support for the minor-party candidates was unchanged.
The new survey shows Clinton with a larger advantage than any of the other nine polls in the last month. Including the Monmouth survey, The RealClearPolitics average of Florida polls has Clinton and Trump tied at 45 percent.
That's in line with Florida's history in recent presidential elections, which have been exceedingly close.
Monmouth also reported that U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, the West Miami Republican seeking a second term, is in a tight race with his challenger, U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Jupiter Democrat. The race is essentially tied, with 47 percent for Rubio and 45 percent for Murphy.
In the presidential race, Monmouth found:
Clinton has an overwhelming advantage among nonwhite voters, who make up about one-third of the electorate. She leads 69 to 16 percent among nonwhite voters. Among white voters, Trump has a 53 percent to 35 percent advantage. Those demographic breakdowns are essentially unchanged since August.
Voters don't think much of either of the two major-party candidates. Trump was rated favorably by 32 percent of Florida likely voters and unfavorably by 56 percent, which is negative 24 points. In August, his net negative was 21 points. Clinton is viewed positively by 38 percent in the new poll and unfavorably by 49 percent, a net negative of 11 points. In August, her net negative was 14 points.
People who identify themselves in one of the two parties overwhelmingly support their party's choice for president: 86 percent of Republicans support Trump and 94 percent of Democrats support Clinton. Independents are evenly divided, with 38 percent for Trump, 36 percent for Clinton, 12 percent for Johnson and 2 percent for Stein.
The electorate is polarized on the high-profile question of immigrants who are not in the U.S. legally. Voters are evenly split on who they "trust more to handle the issue of illegal immigration," with 47 percent picking Clinton and 46 percent naming Trump. Among Republicans, 87 percent said Trump and among Democrats, 90 percent said Clinton. Among white likely voters, 56 percent picked Trump, while 67 percent of nonwhite voters said Clinton.
Republicans aren't as confident in Trump's ability to handle the Zika virus as Democrats are in Clinton's ability. Asked who they'd trust more to handle public health issues like Zika, 76 percent of Republicans picked Trump and 11 percent said Clinton. Among Democrats, 92 percent said Clinton and 2 percent said Trump.
In the Senate race, Monmouth found skepticism, even among Republicans, about Rubio's decision to reverse course and run for re-election after losing his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. The poll found 59 percent of Florida voters said his decision to run for re-election was mainly to improve his chances for a future presidential run; 22 percent said he was motivated more by a desire to serve the public.
Murphy is an unknown quantity to most likely voters, with 59 percent saying they didn't know enough about him to have an opinion about him.
The Monmouth University Polling Institute surveyed 400 likely voters on landlines and cellphones from Sept. 16 to 19. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 5 percentage points.
Saint Leo University, which is located in Pasco County on Florida's Gulf Coast, released its latest online survey on Tuesday, reporting 45 percent for Clinton, 40 percent for Trump, 4 percent for Johnson and 2 percent for Stein.
Saint Leo said its survey of 475 likely Florida voters from Sept. 10-16 has a margin of error of 5 percentage points.
