Showing posts with label New Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Mexico. Show all posts

Sunday, November 1, 2020

The Electoral College Map (11/1/20)

Update for November 1.


Well, if Saturday was a break from what have often been quiet weekends on the polling front in the 2020 presidential race, then Sunday was a decibel-filled cacophony. There were new data from 57 polls in 16 states -- plus surveys that covered both congressional districts in Maine and the second in Nebraska -- and it was all concentrated in the 13 states from New Mexico on the left to Texas on the right in the heart of the Electoral College Spectrum order. 

What was unique about this batch of new surveys was that a raft of them came from right-leaning pollsters. And across the states that count -- those six core battlegrounds of Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- the margins all decreased, benefiting President Trump. However, there are two sizable caveats to that. First, despite the decreases, the map and projection remained unchanged after the introduction of those polls. That means that none of those battlegrounds changed categories. But second, in drilling down just a smidgen, there was either no movement or movement toward Biden since the last polls in the majority of surveys in those series. 

They may have -- and may yet on Monday -- flood the zone with new polls, but those data from right-leaning pollsters are unlikely to change anything around here before tomorrow. Even Georgia, which has lately been precariously perched on either side of the partisan line has shifted enough into the Biden column at this point, that it, too, is likely locked in there. Again, this has been a steady race, and while these polls may have brought down the average margins some in states where Biden has been ahead throughout, in the end it is but a small sliver of a change.

On to the polls...


Polling Quick Hits:
Arizona
(Trump 50, Biden 48 via AtlasIntel | Biden 48, Trump 46 via Emerson | Biden 49, Trump 43 via Siena/NYT Upshot | Biden 50, Trump 46 via CNN | Biden 50, Trump 47 via Y2 Analytics)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +2.89] 
No previous AtlasIntel poll
Emerson: Biden 53, Trump 47 in August poll
Siena: Biden 49, Trump 41 in early October poll
CNN: Biden 49, Trump 45 in July poll
No previous Y2 Analytics poll

FHQ will start each of these polling vignettes today with the current FHQ average in each state. In Arizona, Biden's (rounded) advantage is 48-45. Of the day's polls in the Grand Canyon state, Emerson, CNN and Y2 Analytics most fall in line with that long established state of affairs in Arizona. It is and has been close, but it has also, more often than not been tipped in the former vice president's direction in individual polls. There is some narrowing across a few of these from their last iterations, but it is not to the level of tightening that the president is going to need to pull out wins in some of these states below. 


Colorado
(Biden 53, Trump 41 via Keating Research)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +12.82] 
Keating: Biden 54, Trump 39 in mid-October poll

Currently, the averages in this former perennial battleground has Biden out to a 53-40 (rounded) lead. Colorado simply has not been close in 2020 and is not still in an update that falls right on the candidates' averages here.


Florida
(Trump 47, Biden 46 via Susquehanna | Biden 48, Trump 47 via Pulse Opinion Research | Biden 47, Trump 44 via Siena/NYT Upshot | Biden 49, Trump 48 via St. Pete Polls | Biden 52, Trump 46 via Emerson | Biden 51, Trump 47 via RMG Research | Trump 50, Biden 48 via ABC/WaPo | Biden 49, Trump 47 via YouGov/CCES)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +2.88] 
Susquehanna: Trump 49, Biden 44 in poll last week
Pulse Opinion Research: Trump 50, Biden 46 in mid-October poll
Siena: Biden 47, Trump 42 in early October poll
St. Pete Polls: Biden 49, Trump 47 in mid-October poll
Emerson: Biden 51, Trump 48 in mid-October poll
RMG Research: Biden 50, Trump 48 in mid-October poll
ABC/WaPo: Trump 51, Biden 47 in September poll
No previous YouGov/CCES poll

In the Sunshine state, Trump lags Biden by a 49-46 (rounded) margin, and most of the eight new polls out of Florida today fit right in that general range. There are some exceptions like Susquehanna, but it remains a steady picture in this case. Like Arizona, it has been close in Florida almost all along. There was a brief five day period in late July when the Sunshine state drifted over into Lean Biden territory, but that moment was fleeting. Yet, the fact remains that as close as Florida has been, it has been consistently tipped toward the former vice president throughout much of 2020. The addition of these polls does not alter that. Even the polls that had Trump ahead -- Susquehanna, RMG and WaPo -- all either saw no shift since the last polls in the series or tightening that benefited Biden. And surveys that moved toward Trump tended to bring them in line with the prevailing average in the state at FHQ.


Georgia
(Trump 48, Biden 46 via Insider Advantage | Biden 49, Trump 49 via Emerson | Biden 48, Trump 47 via YouGov/CCES)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +0.36] 
No previous Insider Advantage poll
Emerson: Trump 48, Biden 47 in mid-October poll
No previous YouGov/CCES poll

In the Peach state, once the average shares of both candidates are rounded, the count comes to a 47-47 tie. And again, the new surveys are largely in line with that. Only the Emerson poll offered a comparison to an earlier poll, and even there, the change was minimal. Georgia is close, the closest state on the board at the moment. 


Iowa
(Trump 49, Biden 48 via Civiqs | Trump 49, Biden 47 via Emerson | Trump 48, Biden 46 via Insider Advantage | Trump 48, Biden 41 via Selzer)
[Current FHQ margin: Trump +0.89] 
Civiqs: Biden 48, Trump 47 in early October poll
Emerson: Trump 48, Biden 48 in mid-October poll
Insider Advantage: Trump 45, Biden 45 in mid-October poll
Selzer: Trump 49, Biden 47 in September poll

Speaking of the closest states on the board, Iowa also fits that bill with Trump maintaining a narrow 47-46 (rounded) edge in the FHQ averages. Again, as in Georgia above, most of the new polls today are consistent with that established average. However, the one that stands out is the one that is often called he gold standard of polling in the Hawkeye state. And in that Selzer poll, the president stayed in the upper 40s like the last survey in September but Biden trailed off, dropping in to the low 40s. What is different from that last poll to the latest update is that five percent of the respondents refused to say who they were supporting in the new one. That was a segment of the electorate that was not accounted for in the previous poll. The crosstabs on that subsample of around 40 respondents in that poll would have been interesting to look at; not necessarily representative, but interesting. 


Maine
(Biden 54, Trump 43 via Emerson
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +13.40] 

Maine CD1
(Biden 58, Trump 39 via Emerson
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +22.92] 

Maine CD2
(Biden 50, Trump 47 via Emerson
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +1.88] 
No previous Emerson poll

FHQ will keep the focus in Maine on the second congressional district where the competition is. There has been no previous Emerson poll of the Pine Tree state, so there is no natural comparison, but Biden's lead in the averages there has stabilized around 47-45 (rounded). That is behind this poll of the district, yet not exactly inconsistent with it. Although there have been just 14 surveys in the field in ME CD2, 11 of them have favored the former vice president. Like the rest of those other toss ups close to the partisan line on the Biden side, the second is and has been close throughout, but consistently tilted toward the Democratic nominee. 


Michigan
(Biden 53, Trump 45 via Ipsos | Biden 49, Trump 47 via Insider Advantage | Biden 52, Trump 46 via Emerson | Biden 53, Trump 41 via CNN | Biden 52, Trump 45 via Mitchell Research | Biden 48, Trump 41 via EPIC-MRA)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +7.31] 
Ipsos: Biden 53, Trump 43 in poll last week
No previous Insider Advantage poll
Emerson: Biden 54, Trump 43 in early October poll
CNN: Biden 52, Trump 40 in July poll
Mitchell: Biden 52, Trump 42 in poll last week
EPIC-MRA: Biden 48, Trump 39 in mid-October poll
 
Here is the deal in the Great Lakes state: Biden is already averaging over a 50 percent share of support there. Despite the fact that each of these polls today -- those with a predecessor in the series anyway -- show some narrowing, it is almost all on the Trump side of the equation. The former vice president is still stable and at or over the majority mark in each of these updates. The president may or may not close the gap some on election day, but if Biden is over 50 percent, it will not matter. 


Minnesota
(Biden 54, Trump 39 via St. Cloud State
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +8.52] 
No previous St. Cloud State poll

This St. Cloud State survey of the North Star state may be on the high side of the range for Biden and low side for Trump, but it remains in line with the 51-42 (rounded) average the race is currently at under the FHQ methodology. And as was said in Saturday's update, other than the Survey USA series, the majority of pollsters have generally found a race with Biden over 50 percent and Trump stuck in the low 40s, the latter of which is in the range of the president's overall job approval numbers nationally. 


Nebraska CD2
(Biden 50, Trump 48 via Emerson)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +6.69] 
No previous Emerson poll

The difference between this latest poll and the FHQ averages for NE CD2 are fairly stark. As of now, Biden holds a 51-44 (rounded) lead that looks a lot like the early polls out of the district over the summer. But that discrepancy likely has more to do with the general lack of polling activity in the Omaha area this year. The big polling issue on the state level in 2016 was that there were not a lot of polls in the field in the days before the election. Now, the swing is much less likely to be as large this time around -- there are fewer undecideds after all -- but the same sort of thing could be happening Nebraska's second as election day nears and partisans/partisan leaners come home. Regardless, Biden has been at or over 50 percent in all but one of the (yes, just) six public polls conducted in the district in 2020.


Nevada
(Biden 49, Trump 47 via Emerson)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +4.34] 
No previous Emerson poll
 
Nevada is another jurisdiction where polling has been lacking all year, but where Biden has trailed only once. This Emerson poll hits the vice president's average FHQ share but has Trump running about three points ahead of his average share of support. That tighter margin may be partisans coming home to the president, Biden struggling with Latinos in the state and/or signs of the vaunted Harry Reid turnout machine faltering in the midst of a global pandemic. But the Silver state is another state where it is striking how close the Democratic nominee is to 50 percent. He is not there in this case, but Biden is approaching it in a way that neither Clinton nor Trump did four years ago. 


New Mexico
(Biden 54, Trump 42 via Research & Polling Inc.)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +10.64] 
Research & Polling: Biden 54, Trump 39 in September poll

In the Land of Enchantment, the FHQ averages have the race for the state's five electoral votes at 53-42 (rounded) in favor of the former vice president. This poll is evidence of the race coming in line with that more than it is about Trump gaining ground. This may have been a flip opportunity -- or a state that was eyed as one by the president's campaign operation -- but that has not panned out in any of the New Mexico polling in 2020.  


North Carolina
(Trump 50, Biden 48 via AtlasIntel | Trump 48, Biden 44 via Insider Advantage | Biden 47, Trump 47 via Emerson | Biden 51, Trump 45 via CNN | Trump 49, Biden 47 via Trafalgar Group | Biden 49, Trump 45 via YouGov/CCES)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +1.77] 
No previous AtlasIntel poll
No previous Insider Advantage poll
Emerson: Biden 49, Trump 49 in mid-October poll
CNN: Biden 49, Trump 46 in September poll
Trafalgar: Trump 49, Biden 46 in poll last week
No previous YouGov/CCES poll

Only half of the polls out today in North Carolina had a previous survey to which to compare, and two of those had Trump uncharacteristically ahead in a state where Biden has carried a narrow but consistent lead in the FHQ averages for much of the year. Currently, Biden is up 48-46 (rounded) and most of the surveys today are consistent with that. Some, like the CNN poll have Biden running toward the top end of this range while others like AtlasIntel have the president outperforming his average. The margin may have inched down a tick, but it remains tipped in Biden's direction in the Tar Heel state. 


Ohio
(Trump 49, Biden 48 via Civiqs | Biden 50, Trump 49 via Emerson)
[Current FHQ margin: Trump +0.95] 
Civiqs: Trump 50, Biden 47 in mid-October poll
Emerson: Trump 51, Biden 49 in May poll

One could make a mountain out of a molehill and suggest that the gap narrowed in both Buckeye state polls released today, but the truth is that both maintain an established status quo Trump lead in Ohio. With election day in sight, the president's 47-46 (rounded) advantage in the FHQ averages of Ohio are reflected in both surveys. But the key is less about who leads than how much Ohio has swung toward the Democrats since 2016. The shift there is in line with the seven point average swing across the whole country in 2020 polls. That Ohio is close at all is the story here. Whether Biden can flip it or Trump narrowly defend it is mostly immaterial to the quest for 270 electoral votes (especially in the winning Biden scenarios). 


Pennsylvania
(Biden 52, Trump 46 via Ipsos | Trump 49, Biden 47 via Insider Advantage | Biden 49, Trump 43 via Siena/NYT Upshot | Biden 52, Trump 47 via Emerson | Trump 50, Biden 49 via AtlasIntel | Biden 51, Trump 44 via ABC/WaPo | Biden 52, Trump 44 via YouGov/CCES)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +5.28] 
Ipsos: Biden 51, Trump 44 in poll last week
Insider Advantage: Trump 48, Biden 46 in poll last week
Siena: Biden 49, Trump 42 in early October poll
Emerson: Biden 51, Trump 47 in early October poll
No previous AtlasIntel poll
ABC/WaPo: Biden 54, Trump 45 in September poll
No previous YouGov/CCES poll

There is a prevailing take home that has emerged in the most frequently surveyed state in the 2020 presidential race. The first point on the checklist is always to ask whether Biden is around 50 percent and if Trump is in the mid-40s. This batch of polls checks that box for the most part. Those that do not, like the Emerson survey show no real movement poll-to-poll from the last update, have Biden over the majority mark (ABC/WaPo) or have the president ahead in a state where polls have shown that less than a tenth of the time. But that 50-44 (rounded) edge the former vice president has had has been among the most consistent realities of this race for months. That consistency has kept the Keystone state firmly lodged in the tipping point position well inside Biden's coalition of states.


Texas
(Trump 50, Biden 49 via Emerson | Trump 50, Biden 45 via Gravis Marketing | Trump 49, Biden 47 via YouGov/CCES)
[Current FHQ margin: Trump +1.45] 
Emerson: Trump 52, Biden 48 in May poll
Gravis: Trump 46, Biden 44 in July poll
No previous YouGov/CCES poll

Like Iowa and Ohio, Texas has been a state that has swung toward the Democrats since 2016, but shifted in a manner that is in line with the average change across the country. That has made the Lone Star state look much more competitive in 2020, but it continues to be basically the North Carolina of the Trump side of the partisan line. The president has led throughout, but has maintained a narrow -- and at this point 48-46 (rounded) -- edge in the FHQ averages. The newly added surveys do little to disrupt that general outlook in Texas. 


Utah
(Trump 51, Biden 44 via Y2 Analytics)
[Current FHQ margin: Trump +13.44] 
Y2 Analytics: Trump 50, Biden 40 in early October poll

Look, this is among the rosiest polls a Democrat will likely ever get in the Beehive state. But then, the Y2 Analytics series of polls this year in Utah, has been that way for Joe Biden. But the fact remains that no Democrat has cleared 40 percent in Utah since Johnson carried the state in 1964. Obama came closest in 2008 with 35 percent there, but this series polls stands out in a state where the FHQ average has settled in at 52-39 (rounded) with Trump out in front.


Wisconsin
(Biden 51, Trump 47 via Civiqs | Biden 53, Trump 45 via Ipsos | Biden 51, Trump 49 via AtlasIntel | Biden 53, Trump 45 via Emerson | Biden 49, Trump 46 via Susquehanna | Biden 52, Trump 41 via Siena/NYT Upshot | Trump 52, Biden 44 via CNN)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +6.39] 
Civiqs: Biden 53, Trump 45 in mid-October poll
Ipsos: Biden 53, Trump 44 in poll last week
No previous AtlasIntel poll
Emerson: Biden 52, Trump 45 in September poll
Susquehanna: Biden 46, Trump 45 in mid-October poll
Siena: Trump 51, Biden 41 in mid-October poll
CNN: Biden 52, Trump 42 in September poll

There just is not that much different from one poll to the latest in this group of new surveys out of the Badger state. And two of the three polls that find a greater than one point change increase the former vice president's advantage there. But the bigger thing in Wisconsin is that Biden's average FHQ share has now, as in Michigan, surpassed the 50 percent threshold, a point he passes in six of the seven new polls today. Trump does not need Wisconsin, but with Biden north of 50 percent at FHQ in both Michigan and Wisconsin now, the president's margin for error is quite low. Without those two, Trump absolutely has to run the table through the Biden toss ups and claim the one remaining blue wall state he flipped (and where Biden is barely below 50 percent at FHQ), Pennsylvania. 



NOTE: 


The Electoral College Spectrum1
DC-3
VT-3
(6)2
NJ-14
(156)
NE CD2-1
WI-10
(253)
AK-3
(125)
TN-11
(60)
MA-11
(17)
OR-7
(163)
PA-203
(273 | 285)
MO-10
(122)
KY-8
(49)
MD-10
(27)
IL-20
(183)
NV-6
(279 | 265)
SC -9
(112)
SD-3
(41)
HI-4
(31)
ME-2
(185)
AZ-11
(290 | 259)
MT-3
NE CD1-1
(103)
AL-9
(38)
NY-29
(60)
CO-9
(194)
FL-29
(319 | 248)
KS-6
(99)
ID-4
(29)
CA-55
(115)
VA-13
(207)
ME CD2-1
NC-15
(335 | 219)
IN-11
(93)
AR-6
(25)
DE-3
(118)
NH-4
(211)
GA-16
(351 | 203)
NE-2
(82)
OK-7
(19)
WA-12
(130)
NM-5
(216)
IA-6
(187)
UT-6
(80)
ND-3
(12)
CT-7
ME CD1-1
(138)
MN-10
(226)
OH-18
(181)
MS-6
(74)
WV-5
(9)
RI-4
(142)
MI-16
(242)
TX-38
(163)
LA-8
(68)
WY-3
NE CD3-1
(4)
1 Follow the link for a detailed explanation on how to read the Electoral College Spectrum.

2 The numbers in the parentheses refer to the number of electoral votes a candidate would have if he or she won all the states ranked prior to that state. If, for example, Trump won all the states up to and including Pennsylvania (Biden's toss up states plus the Pennsylvania), he would have 285 electoral votes. Trump's numbers are only totaled through the states he would need in order to get to 270. In those cases, Biden's number is on the left and Trump's is on the right in bold italics.

3 Pennsylvania
 is the state where Biden crosses the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidential election, the tipping point state. The tipping point cell is shaded in yellow to denote that and the font color is adjusted to attempt to reflect the category in which the state is.

57 new polls from 16 states and another poll out of the second district in Nebraska led to the following changes:
  • Nebraska CD2 moves into the middle column at the very top, a once cell shift toward the partisan line.
  • Arizona and Florida traded spots on the Electoral College Spectrum with the Sunshine state moving closer the partisan line. 
  • Speaking of the partisan line, Maine CD2 moved away from it and to the other side of North Carolina in the order. 
  • Wisconsin saw Joe Biden's share of support push across the 50 percent barrier there. 

2 days to go.


Where things stood at FHQ two days before election day (or close to it) in...
2016
2012
2008


--
NOTE: Distinctions are made between states based on how much they favor one candidate or another. States with a margin greater than 10 percent between Biden and Trump are "Strong" states. Those with a margin of 5 to 10 percent "Lean" toward one of the two (presumptive) nominees. Finally, states with a spread in the graduated weighted averages of both the candidates' shares of polling support less than 5 percent are "Toss Up" states. The darker a state is shaded in any of the figures here, the more strongly it is aligned with one of the candidates. Not all states along or near the boundaries between categories are close to pushing over into a neighboring group. Those most likely to switch -- those within a percentage point of the various lines of demarcation -- are included on the Watch List below.

The Watch List1
State
Potential Switch
Georgia
from Toss Up Biden
to Toss Up Trump
Iowa
from Toss Up Trump
to Toss Up Biden
Kansas
from Lean Trump
to Strong Trump
Nevada
from Toss Up Biden
to Lean Biden
New Hampshire
from Strong Biden
to Lean Biden
New Mexico
from Strong Biden
to Lean Biden
Ohio
from Toss Up Trump
to Toss Up Biden
Pennsylvania
from Lean Biden
to Toss Up Biden
1 Graduated weighted average margin within a fraction of a point of changing categories.

--
Methodological Note: In past years, FHQ has tried some different ways of dealing with states with no polls or just one poll in the early rounds of these projections. It does help that the least polled states are often the least competitive. The only shortcoming is that those states may be a little off in the order in the Spectrum. In earlier cycles, a simple average of the state's three previous cycles has been used. But in 2016, FHQ strayed from that and constructed an average swing from 2012 to 2016 that was applied to states. That method, however, did little to prevent anomalies like the Kansas poll that had Clinton ahead from biasing the averages. In 2016, the early average swing in the aggregate was  too small to make much difference anyway. For 2020, FHQ has utilized an average swing among states that were around a little polled state in the rank ordering on election day in 2016. If there is just one poll in Delaware in 2020, for example, then maybe it is reasonable to account for what the comparatively greater amount of polling tells us about the changes in Connecticut, New Jersey and New Mexico. Or perhaps the polling in Iowa, Mississippi and South Carolina so far tells us a bit about what may be happening in Alaska where no public polling has been released. That will hopefully work a bit better than the overall average that may end up a bit more muted.


--
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Wednesday, October 21, 2020

The Electoral College Map (10/21/20)

Update for October 21.


As the race for the White House approaches the final debate on Thursday, the polling began to heat up. With one day until that last presidential debate there were a total of 29 new polls released from 15 states representing all of the FHQ categories but the Strong Trump states. There is a lot to look at, so... 

...on to the polls... 


Polling Quick Hits:
Alaska
(Trump 50, Biden 45)
[Current FHQ margin: Trump +6.03]
Public Policy Polling was last in the field with a survey in Alaska in July. Then it was 50-44, Trump. In those three intervening months little has seemingly changed. And this one falls pretty close to the FHQ averages for both candidates. The big thing in the Last Frontier is that Trump barely surpassed 50 percent in 2016 and is hovering around it now. Biden, on the other hand, has pulled much closer than where Clinton was in November 2016.


Arizona
(Biden 48, Trump 46 via Pulse Opinion Research | Biden 47, Trump 46 via RMG Research)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +3.06]
The two pollsters with new surveys out today in the Grand Canyon state are new to Arizona this cycle. As such, there is no natural comparison for either. However, the current FHQ averages currently have it at Biden 48-45 (rounded) and the truth is that both surveys fall within both candidates ranges in most recent polls. Arizona continues to be a state that is narrowly but consistently tipped in Biden's direction as election day nears.


Florida
(Biden 50, Trump 46 via CNN | Biden 51, Trump 47 via Civiqs)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +3.33]
Another of those close states with Biden typically but not always ahead is Florida. But the difference in the Sunshine state compared to Arizona is that the former vice president has begun to inch more toward 50 percent. Of the 23 surveys conducted in whole or in part in October, Biden has been at or above the majority mark in 11 of those polls. Trump is close, but that Biden is approaching 50 percent is a red flag. And Biden is at or above 50 percent in both of today's polls. However, the CNN poll is only marginally different its last survey there in July when it was 51-46, Biden. That is not a piece of evidence that helps to build a story of big change in this race. [The Civiqs survey was its first in Florida this cycle.] 


Iowa
(Biden 48, Trump 48 via Emerson | Biden 46, Trump 43 via Siena/NYT Upshot | Biden 45, Trump 45 via Insider Advantage | Biden 51, Trump 46 via Monmouth)
[Current FHQ margin: Trump +0.73]
If Biden hitting 50 percent in a couple of Florida polls was a red flag, then the former vice president leading or tied in four new polls in the Hawkeye state is another for the Trump reelection effort. The president needs both states to get to 270, but with Iowa now back on the Watch List (below), a state that he won by nine in 2016 is now close to tied. And more importantly, that swing is indicative of the shift toward the Democrats in 2020 polling from election day four years ago. Emerson and Insider Advantage are new to Iowa and in the Siena poll Biden maintained the three point edge he had in the September. The focus, then, will be on the noisier Monmouth series. A race knotted at 47-47 in August shifted in Trump's direction in September (49-46, Trump) and has swung back hard in Biden's direction in October. And all of these use the low turnout model that the university pollster utilizes. Typically that has favored the president, but in this case the low turnout version was actually better for Biden than the high turnout model. The bottom line in Iowa is that if it is among the most competitive states on election day, then the Democratic nominee is likely within range of 270 electoral votes (if not more).


Kansas
(Trump 54, Biden 42 via Public Policy Polling | Trump 56, Biden 39 via co/efficient)
[Current FHQ margin: Trump +9.13]
The Sunflower state has shown signs in some 2020 polling of being closer than usual. And while that is consistent with a swing toward the Democrats, the shift in Kansas at FHQ has been nearly 11 points since to this point, an above average swing from four years ago. Nevertheless, the two polls out there today find the president with double digit leads. PPP has conducted three polls in Kansas and had Trump in the 50s each time and Biden lagging in the lower 40s. But the co/efficient survey is simultaneously Trump's peak and Biden's nadir in Kansas polling this year. Trump will win Kansas in November, but the question is whether it continues to show an above average Democratic shift or snaps back into a place in the range like these two surveys today.


Michigan
(Biden 52, Trump 44)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +7.19]
The Ipsos Michigan poll is hardly different from the firm's survey there a week ago. Biden is up a point and that is it. Again, polling in the Great Lakes state is settling into a space where the margins more often than not end up in the 6-9 point range in Biden's favor. And this survey nudges the former vice president a little closer to the 50 percent in the averages. 


Minnesota
(Biden 53, Trump 43)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +8.37]
The first Civiqs poll of Minnesota in 2020 finds the Democratic nominee out to a double digit lead. That is not uncommon in polling of the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but this poll does have Biden toward the top of his range (and above his FHQ average share of support) while the president is relatively static in the lower 40s where he has been in most Minnesota surveys. And that is not a winning position in a state the president had held out some hope of flipping this year after a narrow Clinton win there in 2016.


Nevada
(Biden 52, Trump 43)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +4.09]
Civiqs was also in the field in Nevada. Here, too, it was the pollster's first go of it in the Silver state. And like the Minnesota survey above, the Nevada poll has Biden running out in front of his FHQ average at the top of his range in polling there this cycle. Meanwhile, the president came in around where he has been in Nevada polling all year. This is another oft-discussed flip opportunity for the president's campaign, but an average share around 44 percent at FHQ is not going to do it without some current Biden supporters coming over (or staying at home and/or not returning their mail ballots). There just are not enough undecideds to make up the difference in the Silver state. 


New Jersey
(Biden 56, Trump 34)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +19.33]
Look, New Jersey is not going to be anything other than solidly blue next month, and the consistency of the DKC Analytics series of polls has spoken to that all year. Biden has been in the 50s and Trump in the 30s across the four polls of the series. But this is the widest margin in any of those surveys and is in line with the FHQ averages in the Garden state. The more interesting thing in New Jersey continues to be that Biden has not improved on Clinton's showing the state. All of the shift, then, is on the Trump side, and the president has dropped what is now approaching five points.


New Mexico
(Biden 54, Trump 41)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +10.45]
New Mexico is the rare state in 2020 where both major party candidates are running ahead of their parties' performance in 2016. That would be a silver lining for the Trump campaign if not for the fact that Biden has to this point run more than four points ahead of Clinton's pace in the Land of Enchantment while the president has only improved on his showing there by a couple of points. And the new GBAO survey of New Mexicans did little to alter that general picture of Biden over 50 percent and Trump trailing in the low 40s. Like a couple of other states above, New Mexico has also been talked about at a potential opportunity for the president. Most polls there, however, do not reflect that.


North Carolina
(Biden 49, Trump 47)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +1.81]
Ipsos has now conducted four polls in the Tar Heel state in 2020 and this latest is the first to show the race as anything other than tied between Biden and Trump. And the change brings Ipsos in line with the overall FHQ averages in North Carolina. As it stands now at FHQ with more than 100 polls in the state, Biden holds a 48-46 (rounded) lead. It is a narrow but consistently advantage of the ilk of those in both Arizona and Florida.


Pennsylvania
(Biden 53, Trump 43 via CNN | Biden 51, Trump 43 via Quinnipiac | Biden 49, Trump 42 via Suffolk)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +5.43]
If it was not for Iowa, the Pennsylvania would have had the most poll releases on the day. And technically the Keystone state has four polls too counting the Change Research survey below. Minus that poll, which is the closest the president has been in the commonwealth in any non-Trafalgar poll in a while, the picture looks quite grim for the president. Biden is hovering around 50 percent in each and Trump is mired in the low 40s. And all of those polls are more in line with the FHQ averages in the Pennsylvania (Biden 50-44, rounded), than the Change survey. This was the initial poll for both CNN and Suffolk in Pennsylvania, but the Quinnipiac survey actually showed some narrowing from the earlier October survey the university pollster released. However, this latest poll is more in line with the August Q-poll that also had Biden up eight. 

 
Texas
(Biden 47, Trump 47)
[Current FHQ margin: Trump +1.58]
Other than a rare September blip when President Trump was up five points, the series of Texas polls from Quinnipiac has found a race within one point. And that includes today's survey with Biden and Trump tied. In fact, of the nine polls in the field in whole or in part in October, seven of them have had the race within two points one way or the other. But as FHQ mentioned in yesterday's update, Texas is a lot like North Carolina but on the Trump side of the partisan line. Although, in the case of Texas that means a tight race in most (recent) polls with a smattering of surveys with Trump out in front by more than five. The Lone Star state is close, but like several of those blue states above -- Arizona, Florida and North Carolina -- is consistently tipped in one direction. Contrary to those states, Texas is tipped in the president's favor. 


Wisconsin
(Biden 46, Trump 45 via Susquehanna | Biden 50, Trump 45 via Latino Decisions)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +6.13]
One of these new Wisconsins polls more closely resembles the FHQ averages and it is not the Susquehanna survey. But it was the Susquehanna poll that has a point of comparison in its September poll of the Badger state. A two point Biden advantage then (48-46) has been replaced with a marginally tighter race but with both candidates worse off than they were at the end of September. In the new poll, Trump is still toward the top of his range while Biden is on the lower end of his in recent Wisconsin polling. But this is another battleground state where the president is just barely scratching into the mid-40s in most polls.



Pennsylvania: 
Biden 49, Trump 47 (Biden -1, Trump +1 since early October wave)

North Carolina: 
Biden 50, Trump 47 (Biden +1, Trump +/-0)

Florida: 
Biden 50, Trump 45 (Biden +/-0, Trump -1)

Arizona: 
Biden 51, Trump 45 (Biden +/-0, Trump +/-0)

Michigan: 
Biden 51, Trump 44 (Biden +/-0, Trump +1)

Wisconsin: 
Biden 52, Trump 44 (Biden +1, Trump +/-0)

FHQ will be brief here since there is no real marked change in this Change Research wave relative to the last earlier this month. But what is striking about this set is that Biden is at or over 50 percent in five of the  six core battlegrounds. That was true in the last wave, but then it was North Carolina that was the the lone state where the former vice president fell short of 50 percent. The other item of note here is the order of the states. Arizona and Florida are close enough at FHQ that one could see the two swapping spots, but Pennsylvania as the closest state of the bunch is a new wrinkle that does not match the established FHQ order. Furthermore, Wisconsin is fairly consistently closer than Michigan but it the Badger state is not here. 



The Electoral College Spectrum1
DC-3
VT-3
(6)2
IL-20
(162)
WI-10
(253)
AK-3
(125)
TN-11
(60)
MA-11
(17)
OR-7
(169)
PA-203
(273 | 285)
MO-10
(122)
KY-8
(49)
MD-10
(27)
NJ-14
(183)
NV-6
(279 | 265)
SC -9
(112)
AL-9
(41)
HI-4
(31)
ME-2
(185)
FL-29
(308 | 259)
NE CD1-1
MT-3
(103)
SD-3
(32)
CA-55
(86)
CO-9
(194)
AZ-11
(319 | 230)
KS-6
(99)
ID-4
(29)
NYI-29
(115)
VA-13
(207)
NC-15
ME CD2-1
(335 | 219)
NE-2
(93)
AR-6
(25)
DE-3
(118)
NH-4
(211)
GA-16
(203)
IN-11
(91)
OK-7
(19)
WA-12
(130)
NM-5
(216)
OH-18
(187)
UT-6
(80)
ND-3
(12)
ME CD1-1
CT-7
(138)
MN-10
(226)
IA-6
(169)
MS-6
(74)
WV-5
(9)
RI-4
(142)
NE CD2-1
MI-16
(243)
TX-38
(163)
LA-8
(68)
WY-3
NE CD3-1
(4)
1 Follow the link for a detailed explanation on how to read the Electoral College Spectrum.

2 The numbers in the parentheses refer to the number of electoral votes a candidate would have if he or she won all the states ranked prior to that state. If, for example, Trump won all the states up to and including Pennsylvania (Biden's toss up states plus the Pennsylvania), he would have 285 electoral votes. Trump's numbers are only totaled through the states he would need in order to get to 270. In those cases, Biden's number is on the left and Trump's is on the right in bold italics.

3 Pennsylvania
 is the state where Biden crosses the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidential election, the tipping point state. The tipping point cell is shaded in yellow to denote that and the font color is adjusted to attempt to reflect the category in which the state is.

Despite the flood of new polling data, the overarching story here at FHQ remains the same. No states changed sides nor did any change shades. That said, Kansas, on the weight of two polls with wider than typical margins, moved to the very edge of the Lean Trump group of states in the order on the Spectrum. The Sunflower state is now on the Watch List within a point of shifting up into the Strong Trump category. Kansas was joined on the Watch List by Iowa and Nevada. The former is now within a point of pushing across the partisan line into Biden territory and the latter is closer to returning to the Lean Biden category. 

Yet, Kansas is the only bright spot on the day for the president. Everywhere else, including almost every state that matters to his quest for 270 electoral votes, either held steady or inched further away from him. And at a time with just 13 days until the voting phase of this election concludes, it is another lost day for Trump through the lens of the polls. 

13 days to go.


Where things stood at FHQ on October 21 (or close to it) in...
2016
2012
2008


--
NOTE: Distinctions are made between states based on how much they favor one candidate or another. States with a margin greater than 10 percent between Biden and Trump are "Strong" states. Those with a margin of 5 to 10 percent "Lean" toward one of the two (presumptive) nominees. Finally, states with a spread in the graduated weighted averages of both the candidates' shares of polling support less than 5 percent are "Toss Up" states. The darker a state is shaded in any of the figures here, the more strongly it is aligned with one of the candidates. Not all states along or near the boundaries between categories are close to pushing over into a neighboring group. Those most likely to switch -- those within a percentage point of the various lines of demarcation -- are included on the Watch List below.

The Watch List1
State
Potential Switch
Georgia
from Toss Up Trump
to Toss Up Biden
Iowa
from Toss Up Trump
to Toss Up Biden
Kansas
from Lean Trump
to Strong Trump
Nevada
from Toss Up Biden
to Lean Biden
New Hampshire
from Strong Biden
to Lean Biden
New Mexico
from Strong Biden
to Lean Biden
Ohio
from Toss Up Trump
to Toss Up Biden
Pennsylvania
from Lean Biden
to Toss Up Biden
1 Graduated weighted average margin within a fraction of a point of changing categories.

--
Methodological Note: In past years, FHQ has tried some different ways of dealing with states with no polls or just one poll in the early rounds of these projections. It does help that the least polled states are often the least competitive. The only shortcoming is that those states may be a little off in the order in the Spectrum. In earlier cycles, a simple average of the state's three previous cycles has been used. But in 2016, FHQ strayed from that and constructed an average swing from 2012 to 2016 that was applied to states. That method, however, did little to prevent anomalies like the Kansas poll that had Clinton ahead from biasing the averages. In 2016, the early average swing in the aggregate was  too small to make much difference anyway. For 2020, FHQ has utilized an average swing among states that were around a little polled state in the rank ordering on election day in 2016. If there is just one poll in Delaware in 2020, for example, then maybe it is reasonable to account for what the comparatively greater amount of polling tells us about the changes in Connecticut, New Jersey and New Mexico. Or perhaps the polling in Iowa, Mississippi and South Carolina so far tells us a bit about what may be happening in Alaska where no public polling has been released. That will hopefully work a bit better than the overall average that may end up a bit more muted.


--
Related posts:




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Tuesday, October 6, 2020

The Electoral College Map (10/6/20)

Update for October 6.


Changes (October 6)
StateBeforeAfter
New Mexico
Lean Biden
Strong Biden
Just four weeks stand in the way of now and election day. And the picture remains a fairly steady one here at FHQ. Yes, there will from time to time be some subtle changes, but that is mainly how it has been since these updates began in mid-June. Some states change categories. Fewer have jumped the partisan line. The latter group to this point has only included Georgia, Maine's second congressional district and Ohio. Both of the states have been over the partisan line and back again while ME CD2 has shifted from Trump to Biden and stayed there for the time being.

The former group includes New Mexico which today, after a brief stop in Lean Biden territory, shifted back to Strong Biden and pushed the former vice president's projected electoral vote total in the Strong category alone to 216. That category alone continues to project more electoral votes for Biden than all of Trump's three categories combined. But the poll in New Mexico was not the only one on the day.


Polling Quick Hits:
Arizona
(Biden 49, Trump 45 via Strategies 360 | Biden 46, Trump 45 via HighGround)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +3.21]
Of the two new polls from Arizona (not counting the Change Research poll below), only HighGround has perviously conducted a survey in the Grand Canyon state. And consistent with the steady picture theme above, the change since that May poll has been next to nothing. Biden maintained his advantage but lost a point while Trump stayed at 45 percent. That has Biden under his average in the state and Trump right on his. But overall, the first Strategies 360 survey in Arizona better approximates where the race is in the averages here at FHQ.


Florida
(Biden 45, Trump 45 via Suffolk | Biden 51, Trump 45 via University of North Florida)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +3.28]
The Sunshine state also saw a pair of new surveys (and another from Change Research), and it was a pick one's own narrative couple of polls. Take the tie from Suffolk and the Biden +6 from UNF, average them, and one gets pretty close to where the current average margin rests in Florida at FHQ (Biden 48-45, rounded). This is the first Suffolk poll of Florida, but the focus should rest on the series from UNF. A narrow one point Biden lead in a February poll expanded to six point (both among registered voters). That six point edge from April has held for the former vice president in the shift to likely voters in the latest survey. Again, Florida has leveled off in the Biden +3 area in recent days and nothing in today's set of of polls from the Sunshine state does much to alter that.


Maine
(Biden 51, Trump 40)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +13.80]

Maine CD1
(Biden 62, Trump 30)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +24.29]

Maine CD2
(Trump 49, Biden 41)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +1.27]
Critical Insights returned to the field in Maine for the first time since early August and the most noticeable difference across the two polls is the drop in the percentage of respondents favoring a minor party candidate or remaining undecided. Both basically halved statewide, pushing Biden's advantage up a few points. But the impact of that change was disproportionate on the congressional district level. A much larger share of undecideds in the second district in the first poll in the series seems to have filtered toward the president in the time since. No, this is not a panel poll, so there are different respondents in the two samples. It is more complicated than that, but the swing in CD2 runs counter to the trajectory of other recent polling on the state level. It swung hard toward the president, taking a one point Biden advantage in August and turning it into an eight point lead for Trump now. But that was offset by a significant shift in CD1 as well. The former vice president's August lead doubled to 32 points now. In the end, take all of the district level chatter with a grain of salt. The subsamples in both were under 250 respondents. Large margins of error are involved. And that likely better explains the change poll-over-poll than any specific change in either of districts. 


New Mexico
(Biden 53, Trump 39)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +10.02]
The more things change the more they stay the same can probably best sum up the state of play in the Land of Enchantment. Public Policy Polling last conducted a poll there in June and found Biden up by the exact same 53-39 margin. And although New Mexico recently pushed into the upper end of the Lean Biden category, this poll nudges the average margin there back up above the ten point barrier that separates Strong from Lean in FHQ's typology. The stay was brief, but New Mexico's two days in among the Lean Biden states is over for now. 


North Carolina
(Biden 50, Trump 46)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +1.53]
The last update in the Tar Heel state from East Carolina_ saw the transition from registered to likely voters in the sample break a previous tie and elevate President Trump to the lead in the state. But the latest poll from ECU -- in the field completely after the first presidential debate last week and mostly after the president's Covid diagnosis -- has the president's late August edge disappearing in September, replaced by the largest Biden lead in the series all year. Not only that, but the former vice president is the first to hit 50 percent in an ECU survey. But while the poll is consistent on the average Trump share at FHQ, it finds Biden nearly three points out in front of his. But Biden has hit or exceeded 50 percent in four of the last five polls in the Tar Heel state. 


Pennsylvania
(Biden 53, Trump 45)
[Current FHQ margin: Biden +5.40]
Another Monmouth survey -- this on from Pennsylvania -- offers another opportunity to explore the university pollster's multiple assumptions about turnout in 2020. FHQ has consistently used the low turnout model in the data and that more often than not favors the president, but not always. FHQ has also tried to report the differences using one or the other assumption about turnout would have on the average margin here. But put a pin in that for a second and shift the focus to the Monmouth series in the Keystone state. This update looks more like the July poll (Biden 51-44) than the August poll (Biden 48-47) that gave at least some credence to the idea of a narrowing race even if it was added during a period when there were far more mid- and upper single digit leads for the former vice president. That low turnout version of the poll was not necessarily an outlier at the time, but it was on the low end of the range of results. [NOTE: In this case, having used the high turnout data over the low turnout version would have raised Biden's edge by 0.05 points.]


Change Research (October wave)

Arizona: Biden +6 (Biden +2, Trump +2 since last wave)
Florida: Biden +4 (Biden +1, Trump +/-0)
Michigan: Biden +8 (Biden +/-0, Trump +/-0) [Current FHQ margin: Biden +7.08]
North Carolina: Biden +2 (Biden +1, Trump +1)
Pennsylvania: Biden +4 (Biden +1, Trump +1)
Wisconsin: Biden +7 (Biden +/-0, Trump +2) [Current FHQ margin: Biden +6.14]

It is likely safe to say that these Change Research battleground polls are conducted too frequently to see any real changes in the race in any of the core six battlegrounds. FHQ ends up saying that almost every time a new wave emerges in any event. This latest wave is no different. But that does not mean the data is useless. Instead, it can be interpreted as another datapoint suggesting that the overall race continues to be steady. That said, Arizona continues to fall out of sequence in these updates. It is a bit more Biden-friendly (and Pennsylvania a little less so) than the established averages here would otherwise indicate. But results in both states are in line with other polling in each.


NOTE: A description of the methodology behind the graduated weighted average of 2020 state-level polling that FHQ uses for these projections can be found here.


The Electoral College Spectrum1
DC-3
VT-3
(6)2
IL-20
(162)
WI-10
(253)
SC-9
(125)
TN-11
(60)
MA-11
(17)
NJ-14
(176)
PA-203
(273 | 285)
AK-3
(116)
KY-8
(49)
MD-10
(27)
OR-7
(183)
NV-6
(279 | 265)
MO-10
(113)
AL-9
(41)
CA-55
(82)
ME-2
(185)
FL-29
(308 | 259)
KS-6
(103)
SD-3
(32)
NY-29
(111)
CO-9
(194)
AZ-11
(319 | 230)
NE CD1-1
MT-3
(97)
ID-4
(29)
HI-4
(115)
VA-13
(207)
NC-15
ME CD2-1
(335 | 219)
NE-2
(93)
AR-6
(25)
DE-3
(118)
NH-4
(211)
GA-16
(203)
IN-11
(91)
OK-7
(19)
WA-12
(130)
NM-5
(216)
OH-18
(187)
UT-6
(80)
ND-3
(12)
ME CD1-1
CT-7
(138)
MN-10
(226)
IA-6
(169)
MS-6
(74)
WV-5
(9)
RI-4
(142)
MI-16
NE CD2-1
(243)
TX-38
(163)
LA-8
(68)
WY-3
NE CD3-1
(4)
1 Follow the link for a detailed explanation on how to read the Electoral College Spectrum.

2 The numbers in the parentheses refer to the number of electoral votes a candidate would have if he or she won all the states ranked prior to that state. If, for example, Trump won all the states up to and including Pennsylvania (Biden's toss up states plus the Pennsylvania), he would have 285 electoral votes. Trump's numbers are only totaled through the states he would need in order to get to 270. In those cases, Biden's number is on the left and Trump's is on the right in bold italics.

3 Pennsylvania
 is the state where Biden crosses the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidential election, the tipping point state. The tipping point cell is shaded in yellow to denote that and the font color is adjusted to attempt to reflect the category in which the state is.

Although New Mexico changed shades of blue on the map and flipped its potential change on the Watch List below, the state stayed exactly where it was in the rank ordering of state depicted on the Electoral College Spectrum above. And that is far enough out to the left of the partisan line to likely be an unrealistic flip opportunity for the president's reelection campaign. ME CD2, however, may not be. Yes, Trump won the rural northern district in Maine last time, but has work to do to bring it back into his column in order to successfully defend the territory in 2020. The new Critical Insights polls accomplishes some of that work, pulling the second up against the partisan line but on the Trump side of light blue North Carolina.

ME CD1 also nudged past Connecticut far off on the left flank of the Spectrum. It was a subtle move, but a change nonetheless.

Everything else remained the same as a day ago. Pennsylvania is still the tipping point state where Biden is projected to cross 270 electoral votes (or Trump would should he make up some ground over the next four weeks). And the Watch List continues to comprise the same five states as Monday, albeit with New Mexico likely to switch to from Strong to Lean rather than vice versa.

Four weeks to go.



Where things stood at FHQ on October 6 (or close to it) in...
2016
2012
2008


--
NOTE: Distinctions are made between states based on how much they favor one candidate or another. States with a margin greater than 10 percent between Biden and Trump are "Strong" states. Those with a margin of 5 to 10 percent "Lean" toward one of the two (presumptive) nominees. Finally, states with a spread in the graduated weighted averages of both the candidates' shares of polling support less than 5 percent are "Toss Up" states. The darker a state is shaded in any of the figures here, the more strongly it is aligned with one of the candidates. Not all states along or near the boundaries between categories are close to pushing over into a neighboring group. Those most likely to switch -- those within a percentage point of the various lines of demarcation -- are included on the Watch List below.

The Watch List1
State
Potential Switch
Georgia
from Toss Up Trump
to Toss Up Biden
New Hampshire
from Strong Biden
to Lean Biden
New Mexico
from Strong Biden
to Lean Biden
Ohio
from Toss Up Trump
to Toss Up Biden
Pennsylvania
from Lean Biden
to Toss Up Biden
1 Graduated weighted average margin within a fraction of a point of changing categories.

--
Methodological Note: In past years, FHQ has tried some different ways of dealing with states with no polls or just one poll in the early rounds of these projections. It does help that the least polled states are often the least competitive. The only shortcoming is that those states may be a little off in the order in the Spectrum. In earlier cycles, a simple average of the state's three previous cycles has been used. But in 2016, FHQ strayed from that and constructed an average swing from 2012 to 2016 that was applied to states. That method, however, did little to prevent anomalies like the Kansas poll that had Clinton ahead from biasing the averages. In 2016, the early average swing in the aggregate was  too small to make much difference anyway. For 2020, FHQ has utilized an average swing among states that were around a little polled state in the rank ordering on election day in 2016. If there is just one poll in Delaware in 2020, for example, then maybe it is reasonable to account for what the comparatively greater amount of polling tells us about the changes in Connecticut, New Jersey and New Mexico. Or perhaps the polling in Iowa, Mississippi and South Carolina so far tells us a bit about what may be happening in Alaska where no public polling has been released. That will hopefully work a bit better than the overall average that may end up a bit more muted.


--
Related posts:
The Electoral College Map (10/5/20)

The Electoral College Map (10/4/20)

The Electoral College Map (10/3/20)


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