Poll: Trump and Clinton neck and neck before first debate

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival, Donald Trump, are running neck and neck one day before the first presidential debate, according to a new poll.

{mosads}Clinton leads Trump by 2 points among likely voters in the Washington Post-ABC News poll released early Sunday, 46 percent to 44 percent, well within its margin of error.

Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson has 5 percent, and the Green Party’s Jill Stein has 1 percent.

Clinton and Trump each have 41 percent support among registered voters, pollsters found, with Johnson picking up 7 percent and Stein 2 percent.

Clinton maintains her 2-point lead over Trump among likely voters in a two-way race, 49 percent to 47 percent, while she is tied with Trump at 46 percent apiece among registered voters in that scenario.

The poll of 834 registered voters, conducted Sept. 19–22, has a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

The Post notes that Clinton led Trump by 5 points among likely voters earlier this month. She led by 8 points in early August.

The Washington Post-ABC News poll reflects the tightening race. Clinton now leads Trump by 3 points in the RealClearPolitics average of polling, 46 percent to 43 percent.

The new poll also found strong interest in Monday’s first presidential debate, with approximately 80 percent of voters planning to watch.

Forty-four percent of voters expect Clinton to win, according to the poll, compared to 34 percent who expect a stronger performance from Trump.