Poll: Trump gains on Clinton in NC

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is nibbling away at Hillary Clinton’s lead in North Carolina, according to a new poll.

The race between Clinton and Trump is now too close to call in Elon University’s latest survey of North Carolina. The Democratic nominee leads Trump 42 percent to 41.2 percent, well within the poll’s margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.

In last month’s version of the poll, Clinton led Trump by nearly 6 points.

{mosads}This latest survey of 710 likely voters was conducted before FBI Director James Comey announced on Friday that the bureau is reviewing a newly discovered batch of emails possibly relevant to its investigation of how Clinton handled classified information on the private email server she used while secretary of State.

“North Carolina is still very much in play for both Trump and Clinton,” said Jason Husser, director of Elon University polling and assistant professor of political science. “The Old North State is continuing its tradition as a source of true toss-up electoral votes.”

Clinton is targeting North Carolina’s 15 votes in the Electoral College as a way of blocking Trump’s path to the 270 needed to win the presidency. If Trump loses North Carolina, a state Republican nominee Mitt Romney won in 2012, his already narrow path to the White House virtually closes.

Like other races around the country, the North Carolina contest divides sharply along racial lines. One hundred percent of black respondents in the Elon poll favor Clinton, and 67 percent of white voters in North Carolina say they plan to vote for Trump.

One bright spot for Trump: The gender gap has tightened, with 55 percent of female voters in North Carolina planning to vote for Clinton, compared with 61 percent in the poll nearly a month ago. Male voters continue to favor Trump 56 percent to 44 percent.

The poll also showed incumbent Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) leading Democratic challenger Deborah Ross 43.5 percent to 39.9 percent in the state’s Senate race.