New poll shows Trump in tight race with Dem challengers

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - A new poll released Monday suggests U.S. President Donald Trump would face tough challenges from the top three Democratic challengers heading into next year's presidential race.

The poll by the New York Times Upshot and Siena College shows Trump in a virtual dead-heat with the potential nominees in the six key battleground states he won in 2017 -- Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

In those states he trails former Vice President Joe Biden on average by about two percentage points among registered voters, but that nearly falls within the poll's 1.8% margin of error meaning it is too close to call one way or the other definitively.

Trump, however, leads progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren in those states by roughly the same amount. Trump boasts a 6 point lead in Michigan, and a four point lead in Florida. The two are split evenly in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin while Warren has a slight two point lead in Arizona, according to the poll.

Fellow progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders is in a virtual deadlock with the president in those states among registered voters, but Trump edges out an advantage among likely voters.

The poll comes with less than a year to go before Americans across the country turn out to polling stations to cast their ballots to determine who will become the U.S.'s next chief executive. And in three months, Democrats will hold their first caucus in Iowa where the party will begin the process of determining whom it will nominate to take on Trump.

The New York Times' analysis of its polling data indicates that Warren may struggle to best Trump in the six battleground states that went the president's way in 2016 when he bested former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to secure the White House.

Of those who participated in the poll, only 26% have a favorable view of the Massachusetts senator compared to 47% who view her unfavorably. By a margin of 74% to 24%, most say they would prefer a more moderate candidate to a more liberal one.

Most of the registered voters -- 52% -- who say they prefer Biden over Warren, agree Warren is too far left for them to support the candidate.