A new poll shows Hillary Clinton has a strong lead in Vermont over Donald Trump. Thirty-nine percent of respondents to a survey conducted last week support Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, over Trump, the Republican nominee, who garnered support from 24 percent of the 600 registered Vermont voters who were surveyed by telephone June 26-29.
The poll was conducted by the Los Angeles firm FM3, (Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz and Associates), and it was commissioned by Energy Independent Vermont, a carbon tax advocacy group.
Hillary Clinton
While Clinton has a substantial lead over Trump in the poll, her popularity in the Green Mountain State is underwhelming compared with that of her Democratic primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, who in the Vermont primary in March won 86 percent of the vote.
Donald Trump speaks in Laconia, N.H., in July. Photo by Michael Vadon/Wikimedia Commons
The FM3 poll shows double digit responses for alternative candidates on the November ballot, including Gary Johnson, the Libertarian nominee for president. Ten percent of survey respondents gave Johnson the thumbs up, and 12 percent will vote for someone else besides Johnson, Clinton or Trump.
Clinton performed best among highly educated, liberal Vermont voters. Fifty percent had some college experience. Seventy-five percent of those who supported Clinton said they were “very liberal” and 78 percent self-identified as Democrats. Twenty-five percent who backed Clinton said they were independent voters who did not belong to a political party.
Forty-four percent of Trump supporters have a high school diploma or less education and only 17 percent attended college. Sixty-five percent of Trump backers identified as “very conservative,” and 58 percent of the respondents identified as Republicans; 20 percent were independents.
Clinton scores well with women — 47 percent supported her. Eighteen percent of female Vermonters said they would vote for Trump.
Both Clinton and Trump were evenly split across a wide range of income levels and age groups from 18 to 65.
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