Tuesday, August 2, 2016

The Electoral College Map (8/2/16)




New State Polls (8/2/16)
State
Poll
Date
Margin of Error
Sample
Clinton
Trump
Undecided
Poll Margin
FHQ Margin
Georgia
7/31
+/- 4.0%
787 likely voters
45.7
45.9
3.0
+0.2
+1.88
Georgia
7/29-7/31
+/- 4.0%
628 likely voters
42
46
5
+4
--
Oklahoma
7/20-7/25
+/- 4.91%
398 likely voters
29
53
11
+24
+24


Polling Quick Hits:
Georgia:
Most will zero in on the tied Landmark poll of the Peach state, but when considered alongside the latest Survey USA poll in Georgia, one gets a picture that on par with the state of affairs in the state at the moment. In other words, split the difference between these two polls and one gets the same Trump +2 picture that was already where the FHQ average was. The addition of these polls shaves a few one-hundredths off the average, but Georgia remains a close state. However, it is one that is still less a need than a want for Clinton. Arizona and Nevada are clearer targets (see Spectrum below). All three are needs for Trump in any legitimate path to 270.


Oklahoma:
Out in the Sooner state, well, the one thing that can be taken from this is that there is now some data in from an unpolled, typically ruby red state. That has been lacking when compared to the other five categories FHQ uses. Not surprisingly, the Sooner Poll shows Trump well ahead of Clinton in Oklahoma. Yet, Oklahoma was a state where Romney won in November by 2:1. Trump is off that pace in the heart of summer, but is in a comparable position to where Romney was at a similar time (in the same poll) in 2012. Sure, Trump is lagging, but not by much. Needless to say, Oklahoma is not showing signs of being dramatically closer (as neighboring Kansas has).

--
Georgia keeps its position on the Spectrum below while Oklahoma and West Virginia flip flop spots on the bottom right at the far Republican end of the figure. Neither is on the Watch List. The decay function, if one wants to call it that in this instance, has the average margin in Arizona slightly growing -- in favor of Trump -- over time. It has nudged past Nevada leaving the Silver state as the closest Trump-leaning toss up state. Both Arizona and Nevada remain on the Watch List within a fraction of a point of shifting into Toss Up Clinton territory. Unlike all of the Clinton toss ups, Arizona and Nevada -- on the Trump side of the victory line -- are the only toss ups on the Watch List. In other words, they are the closest to switching sides and altering the current electoral vote tallies.




The Electoral College Spectrum1
HI-42
(7)
NJ-14
(175)
VA-133
(269 | 282)
UT-6
(158)
LA-8
(55)
MD-10
(17)
DE-3
(178)
IA-63
(275 | 269)
AK-3
(152)
SD-3
(47)
RI-4
(21)
WI-10
(188)
NH-4
(279 | 263)
MO-10
(149)
ND-3
(44)
MA-11
(32)
NM-5
(193)
FL-29
(308 | 259)
IN-11
(139)
ID-4
(41)
VT-3
(35)
OR-7
(200)
NC-15
(323 | 230)
TX-38
(128)
NE-5
(37)
CA-55
(90)
CT-7
(207)
OH-18
(341 | 215)
KS-6
(90)
AL-9
(32)
NY-29
(119)
ME-4
(211)
NV-6
(197)
TN-11
(84)
KY-8
(23)
IL-20
(139)
CO-9
(220)
AZ-11
(191)
SC-9
(73)
OK-7
(15)
MN-10
(149)
MI-16
(236)
GA-16
(180)
AR-6
(64)
WV-5
(8)
WA-12
(161)
PA-20
(256)
MS-6
(164)
MT-3
(58)
WY-3
(3)
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 Virginia (all Clinton's toss up states plus Virginia), he would have 282 electoral votes. Trump's numbers are only totaled through the states he would need in order to get to 270. In those cases, Clinton's number is on the left and Trumps's is on the right in bold italics.


To keep the figure to 50 cells, Washington, DC and its three electoral votes are included in the beginning total on the Democratic side of the spectrum. The District has historically been the most Democratic state in the Electoral College.

3 Iowa and Virginia are collectively the states where Clinton crosses the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidential election. That line is referred to as the victory line. If those two states are separated with Clinton winning Virginia and Trump, Iowa, then there would be a tie in the Electoral College.



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 Clinton 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
Switch
Alaska
from Lean Trump
to Toss Up Trump
Arizona
from Toss Up Trump
to Toss Up Clinton
Arkansas
from Strong Trump
to Lean Trump
Missouri
from Lean Trump
to Toss Up Trump
Nevada
from Toss Up Trump
to Toss Up Clinton
New Jersey
from Strong Clinton
to Lean Clinton
Pennsylvania
from Toss Up Clinton
to Lean Clinton
South Carolina
from Lean Trump
to Strong Trump
Tennessee
from Lean Trump
to Strong Trump
Utah
from Toss Up Trump
to Lean Trump
1 Graduated weighted average margin within a fraction of a point of changing categories.



Recent Posts:
The Electoral College Map (8/1/16)

The Electoral College Map (7/29/16)

The Electoral College Map (7/28/16)

Follow FHQ on TwitterGoogle+ and Facebook or subscribe by Email.

Monday, August 1, 2016

The Electoral College Map (8/1/16)




New State Polls (8/1/16)
State
Poll
Date
Margin of Error
Sample
Clinton
Trump
Undecided
Poll Margin
FHQ Margin
Nevada
7/29-7/31
+/- 4.0%
750 likely voters
41
40
5
+1
+0.52
Pennsylvania
7/29-7/31
+/- 2.5%
1505 likely voters
45
42
8
+3
+4.71
Virginia
7/26-7/27
+/- 3.8%
655 likely voters
42
46
5
+4
+3.03


Polling Quick Hits:
Nevada:
Since Rasmussen was in the field in Nevada a week ago -- during the weekend between the conventions -- there has been an in-house shift toward Clinton in the poll. A week later the Rasmussen poll has witnessed a slight move toward Clinton. Rather than being five points down, the former secretary of state has pulled into the lead, albeit by the narrowest of margins. The bulk of the polling out of the Silver state -- and it should be said that it has been limited in 2016 -- has favored Trump. But the jury is still out. Nevada is historically difficult to survey and the best of the Nevada pollsters have yet to weigh in on this one.


Pennsylvania:
Back east in another battleground, PPP finds pretty much what it found at the end of June; before the conventions and before the Comey/FBI story. That is to say with Clinton up by a small margin. Clinton's four point edge in June is down to three now. However, the earlier poll was only a head-to-head with Trump whereas the post-conventions survey includes Johnson and Stein.  [The head-to-head in the latest poll finds the same four point advantage with both candidates having gained three points each.] As many have noted, the most probable paths to 270 for Trump include the Keystone state. The problem to this point is that the New York businessman has been on the wrong side of the vast majority of survey work there to this point. The fact remains that if Trump does not push through in Florida and Ohio first, then he is unlikely to get to Pennsylvania in the order (see Spectrum) for it to matter. Pennsylvania is still positioned on the edge of the Toss Up Clinton category within a fraction of moving into the Lean Clinton area.


Virginia:
Let's start with the obvious: Trump has not led a poll in Virginia in 2016. The latest poll of the commonwealth from RABA Research, then, is either a sign of things to come or an outlier. FHQ would lean toward the latter. Sure, this one is not consistent with other polling in the Old Dominion, but it is also markedly different from the national poll the firm released over the post-Democratic convention weekend. There is something that of a mismatch when a battleground state like Virginia is Trump +4 and nationally the picture is Clinton +15. Now, those polls were in the field at slightly different times -- the Virginia poll during the Democratic convention and the national poll after it -- but that is a wide gap between the two that would, in addition to the other polling -- point toward both being outliers.

What the polls does do in Virginia is reduce the Clinton lead in the FHQ averages and remove the state from the Watch List below. Despite both of those facts, Virginia does not change its position on the Spectrum below. It still occupies half of the current tipping point states position.





The Electoral College Spectrum1
HI-42
(7)
NJ-14
(175)
VA-133
(269 | 282)
UT-6
(158)
LA-8
(55)
MD-10
(17)
DE-3
(178)
IA-63
(275 | 269)
AK-3
(152)
SD-3
(47)
RI-4
(21)
WI-10
(188)
NH-4
(279 | 263)
MO-10
(149)
ND-3
(44)
MA-11
(32)
NM-5
(193)
FL-29
(308 | 259)
IN-11
(139)
ID-4
(41)
VT-3
(35)
OR-7
(200)
NC-15
(323 | 230)
TX-38
(128)
NE-5
(37)
CA-55
(90)
CT-7
(207)
OH-18
(341 | 215)
KS-6
(90)
AL-9
(32)
NY-29
(119)
ME-4
(211)
AZ-11
(197)
TN-11
(84)
KY-8
(23)
IL-20
(139)
CO-9
(220)
NV-6
(186)
SC-9
(73)
WV-5
(15)
MN-10
(149)
MI-16
(236)
GA-16
(180)
AR-6
(64)
OK-7
(10)
WA-12
(161)
PA-20
(256)
MS-6
(164)
MT-3
(58)
WY-3
(3)
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 Virginia (all Clinton's toss up states plus Virginia), he would have 282 electoral votes. Trump's numbers are only totaled through the states he would need in order to get to 270. In those cases, Clinton's number is on the left and Trumps's is on the right in bold italics.


To keep the figure to 50 cells, Washington, DC and its three electoral votes are included in the beginning total on the Democratic side of the spectrum. The District has historically been the most Democratic state in the Electoral College.

3 Iowa and Virginia are collectively the states where Clinton crosses the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidential election. That line is referred to as the victory line. If those two states are separated with Clinton winning Virginia and Trump, Iowa, then there would be a tie in the Electoral College.



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 Clinton 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
Switch
Alaska
from Lean Trump
to Toss Up Trump
Arizona
from Toss Up Trump
to Toss Up Clinton
Arkansas
from Strong Trump
to Lean Trump
Missouri
from Lean Trump
to Toss Up Trump
Nevada
from Toss Up Trump
to Toss Up Clinton
New Jersey
from Strong Clinton
to Lean Clinton
Pennsylvania
from Toss Up Clinton
to Lean Clinton
South Carolina
from Lean Trump
to Strong Trump
Tennessee
from Lean Trump
to Strong Trump
Utah
from Toss Up Trump
to Lean Trump
1 Graduated weighted average margin within a fraction of a point of changing categories.



Recent Posts:
The Electoral College Map (7/29/16)

The Electoral College Map (7/28/16)

The Electoral College Map (7/27/16)

Follow FHQ on TwitterGoogle+ and Facebook or subscribe by Email.

Friday, July 29, 2016

The Electoral College Map (7/29/16)




Polling Quick Hits:

Missouri:
Mason-Dixon has released the second survey out of the Show-Me state this week. Unlike the previous Survey USA poll, this one was in the field during the interregnum between conventions. The Survey USA poll overlapped with the last couple of days of the Republican convention in Cleveland. That timing may or may not have had an effect, but the differences between the two polls is remarkably stark. A +10 for Trump and now a +1 for Clinton establishes quite a range. But split the difference and it the polls collectively fit in the context of the rest of the polling in Missouri. It is a Lean Trump state, but one where Clinton's numbers are more stable than Trump's. The variation in the Trump number is the driving force behind the fluctuations in the race in the state.

The addition does shift Missouri slightly -- up one cell -- in the Electoral College Spectrum and pushed the Show-Me state onto the Watch List below.


New Hampshire:
FHQ will preface its comments on the new InsideSources survey of New Hampshire by saying that Donald Trump has not led in any 2016 polls in the Granite state. That said, either the nine point advantage the New York businessman has in the poll is a signal of a sea change in the race in New Hampshire or it is an outlier. The hunch here is that it is the latter, but as always, time and additional polling will tell that tale.

The poll does have the effect of reducing Clinton's overall advantage in the state by about half and taking the Granite state off the Watch List. The change on the Spectrum below is minor though not without significance. The atypical Trump advantage in this poll shifts New Hampshire out of the troika it had been a part of with Pennsylvania and Virginia and now aligns it more with Iowa.




The Electoral College Spectrum1
HI-42
(7)
NJ-14
(175)
VA-133
(269 | 282)
UT-6
(158)
LA-8
(55)
MD-10
(17)
DE-3
(178)
IA-63
(275 | 269)
AK-3
(152)
SD-3
(47)
RI-4
(21)
WI-10
(188)
NH-4
(279 | 263)
MO-10
(149)
ND-3
(44)
MA-11
(32)
NM-5
(193)
FL-29
(308 | 259)
IN-11
(139)
ID-4
(41)
VT-3
(35)
OR-7
(200)
NC-15
(323 | 230)
TX-38
(128)
NE-5
(37)
CA-55
(90)
CT-7
(207)
OH-18
(341 | 215)
KS-6
(90)
AL-9
(32)
NY-29
(119)
ME-4
(211)
AZ-11
(197)
TN-11
(84)
KY-8
(23)
IL-20
(139)
CO-9
(220)
NV-6
(186)
SC-9
(73)
WV-5
(15)
MN-10
(149)
MI-16
(236)
GA-16
(180)
AR-6
(64)
OK-7
(10)
WA-12
(161)
PA-20
(256)
MS-6
(164)
MT-3
(58)
WY-3
(3)
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 Virginia (all Clinton's toss up states plus Virginia), he would have 282 electoral votes. Trump's numbers are only totaled through the states he would need in order to get to 270. In those cases, Clinton's number is on the left and Trumps's is on the right in bold italics.


To keep the figure to 50 cells, Washington, DC and its three electoral votes are included in the beginning total on the Democratic side of the spectrum. The District has historically been the most Democratic state in the Electoral College.

3 Iowa and Virginia are collectively the states where Clinton crosses the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidential election. That line is referred to as the victory line. If those two states are separated with Clinton winning Virginia and Trump, Iowa, then there would be a tie in the Electoral College.



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 Clinton 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
Switch
Alaska
from Lean Trump
to Toss Up Trump
Arizona
from Toss Up Trump
to Toss Up Clinton
Arkansas
from Strong Trump
to Lean Trump
Missouri
from Lean Trump
to Toss Up Trump
New Jersey
from Strong Clinton
to Lean Clinton
Pennsylvania
from Toss Up Clinton
to Lean Clinton
South Carolina
from Lean Trump
to Strong Trump
Tennessee
from Lean Trump
to Strong Trump
Utah
from Toss Up Trump
to Lean Trump
Virginia
from Toss Up Clinton
to Lean Clinton
1 Graduated weighted average margin within a fraction of a point of changing categories.



Recent Posts:
The Electoral College Map (7/28/16)

The Electoral College Map (7/27/16)

2016 Democratic National Convention Presidential Nomination Roll Call Tally

Follow FHQ on TwitterGoogle+ and Facebook or subscribe by Email.