Clinton sports big lead in poll of NC early voters

Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by more than 20 points in a poll of North Carolina early voters. 

The new survey from the liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling (PPP) finds that 63 percent of those who say they voted early back Clinton, the Democratic nominee, while just 37 percent say they voted for Trump. Less than a half of a percent say they voted for Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson. 

{mosads}The results are not the same as the official early-vote count, as the poll relies on people self-reporting both whether they have already voted and who they chose. But the results provide a snapshot of voters in a crucial swing state just 15 days before Election Day. 

The poll also found that Clinton holds a slim lead over Trump among all likely voters, regardless of early-vote status, 47 percent to 44 percent. 

North Carolina is one of the pivotal states for Trump, the Republican nominee, whose path to reaching the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House continues to narrow. Trump is gunning to sweep North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, which would give him the victory as long as he could hold other historically red states. But a loss in one of those swing states would make for a much tougher fight.

The PPP poll showed more good news for Democrats with early voting in competitive down-ballot races, while overall polling of both races showed dead heats. 

Democratic Senate hopeful Deborah Ross is ahead of incumbent Republican Sen. Richard Burr, 52 percent to 34 percent, with self-professed early voters. And Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Roy Cooper leads Gov. Pat McCrory 61 percent to 33 percent.

But in the survey of all likely voters, both races are in a statistical tie.