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The former vice president will soon begin the process of selecting a running mate as the Democratic primary nears its end.
USA TODAY
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee to take on President Donald Trump on Nov. 3, leads in three key battleground states, according to separate polls released Tuesday.
Biden, who also maintains a lead in national polling, leads Trump in Arizona, Florida and Virginia – two of which Trump won in 2016.
Arizona
A survey of 600 likely voters in Arizona conducted from May 9-11 by OH Predictive Insights found Biden leading Trump 50% to 43% in the state. In 2016, Trump beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton there by 3.5 percentage points.
That poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
OH Predictive Insights also found Democrat Mark Kelly leading Republican incumbent Sen. Martha McSally, 51% to 38%, in a closely watched Senate race. A Democrat hasn’t won the presidential contest in Arizona since Bill Clinton in 1996.
Florida
In Florida, a poll of 2,149 likely voters conducted from May 14-17 by Point Blank Political found Biden leading Trump by a more narrow margin, 52.3%-47.7%, in a head-to-head matchup. But when third-party candidates were included in the poll, Biden’s 4.6-percentage-point lead shrunk to 0.6.
In 2016, Trump beat Clinton in Florida by 1.3 percentage points. If Biden is able to wrest the state from the president in November, it will likely be due to his stronger support among independent voters. Clinton lost those voters by 4 percentage points in 2016 but Biden is lead Trump among them, 44.4%-36.5%, according to the poll.
Barack Obama won Florida in both the 2008 and 2012 elections. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%.
Virginia
Clinton beat Trump in Virginia by nearly 5 percentage points in 2016 and Biden is poised to perform even better, according to The Roanoke College Poll.
That survey of 563 potential voters conducted from May 3-17 found Biden leading Trump in Virginia by a 12-point margin, 51%-39%.
The poll also found Virginia’s Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Warner with a comfortable, 48%-31% lead over a generic Republican candidate in his bid for a third term.
That poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 4.1%.
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