Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump still leads the GOP field in the three key swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, however, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton managed to narrowly beat Trump in hypothetical matchups in each state, according to a trio of Quinnipiac University polls.
"Those who were waiting for Donald Trump's campaign to collapse will need to wait longer, at least in the three key states of Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
Two of the states are home to three of Trump's Republican challengers: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and John Kasich, the sitting governor of Ohio.
Trump leads Florida with 28 percent, followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 16 percent and Rubio in third with 14 percent. Bush took fourth with 12 percent and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina came in with 7 percent, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is at 6 percent. No other candidate managed to get more than 2 percent.
Despite Trump's lead, 29 percent of Republicans still told Quinnipiac they would "definitely not support" him.
In Ohio, Trump came out on top with 23 percent compared to Carson's 18 percent. Kasich, in his home state, slipped to third with 13 percent, followed by Cruz at 11 percent, Rubio at 7 percent and Bush with 4 percent. All other candidates were below 3 percent.
Another 29 percent in Ohio said they would "definitely not support" Trump.
In the Keystone State of Pennsylvania, Trump came in with 23 percent, Carson with 17 percent and Rubio with 12 percent. Fiorina followed with 8 percent and Cruz with 6 percent. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got 5 percent, and Bush and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tied at 4 percent.
Quinnipiac's Brown noted that aside from Trump, the other two outsider candidates, Carson and Fiorina, "also seem to be making progress."
"But Bush, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas seem to be treading water," he said.
However, Trump doesn't fare as well in a hypothetical general election matchup against Clinton, with the former secretary of state narrowly beating Trump in every state. In Florida, Clinton came out on top with 46 percent to Trump's 42 percent, while in Ohio, the margin was even smaller, with Clinton at 43 percent and Trump at 42 percent. Clinton won in Pennsylvania too, 44 percent to 42 percent.
