Swing-state voters give edge to Clinton in debate

Hillary Clinton won the first presidential debate in the eyes of likely voters in five critical swing states, according to new polls.

The Democratic nominee is viewed as the winner in Public Policy Polling (PPP) surveys for Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia released Thursday. 

{mosads}Fifty-four percent of respondents in Virginia said Clinton performed better than GOP nominee Donald Trump, while 30 percent said the same thing about the billionaire.

Fifty-three percent in Colorado and North Carolina also picked Clinton as the debate’s winner, while 52 percent of respondents in Florida and 51 percent in Pennsylvania give her the nod. 

PPP conducted its latest polls between Sept. 27 and 28. They have margins of error of 3.7 percentage points in Colorado, 3.4 points in Florida and Virginia, and 3.3 points in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. 

Clinton and Trump’s encounter earlier this week shattered past debate viewership records, with about 93 million people watching it either online or on television.  

The remaining debates are scheduled for Oct. 9 in St. Louis and Oct. 19 in Las Vegas.

Clinton lead Trump by 3 points nationwide, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of samplings.