Reuters Poll: Hillary Clinton Leads Donald Trump by 9 Points

The latest poll from Reuters/Ipsos finds Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by 9 points, 41-32.

Clinton’s edge is up very slightly since early June, when she lead Trump by 8 points. When Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are included, Clinton’s lead over Trump edges higher to 10 points.

The Reuters survey of 1,323 registered voters was conducted June 10-15, almost entirely after the Orlando terrorist attacks. It is still too early to determine how that tragedy will impact the head-to-head match-up between Clinton and Trump, but it has already thrust terrorism back to the top of issues most concerning to voters.

One-in-five voters now say terrorism is the top concern, followed closely by the economy, which is the top choice of 19 percent of voters. No other issue cracks double-digits.

At the beginning of June, the economy was the top issue for voters. Health care, terrorism and unemployment were bunched together as the 2nd-4th most important issues. Those other issues have melted away in the wake of the attack in Orlando.

Curiously, immigration also dropped in the list of voters’ concerns. Prior to the attacks, 7 percent of voters named immigration as their top issue. In the current survey, that is down to 6 percent.

Among Republicans, the economy remains the top issue, selected by one-in-four Republican voters. Almost as many, 22 percent, named terrorism as their top issue. That is up from 14 percent at the beginning of the month. For both Democrats and Independents, terrorism is their top issue, named by 19 percent of Dems and 22 percent of Independents.

The rise of terrorism as a top issue was most dramatic among Independents. In early June, just 9 percent of Independents cited terrorism as their top issue, the same number who cited the “environment.” In the Thursday survey, the number worried about terrorism has more than doubled.

Although Hillary gained a single point over Trump in the latest survey, overall support for both candidates fell. Clinton slipped from 42 to 41, while Trump dipped from 34 to 32. The number of undecideds rose from 23 to 26 percent.

All of these numbers, of course, are within the poll’s margin of error. The Orlando attack hasn’t yet changed the fundamentals of the Presidential race. It has, though, changed the prism through which voters will evaluate it.