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new survey from the Florida Atlantic Business and Economic Polling Initiative has Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton leading Republican Donald Trump among Hispanic voters nationwide.

Clinton was selected by 50 percent of participants in the poll, while Trump received 27 percent of the vote and 23 percent of respondents were listed as unsure. Clinton leads Trump in both male and female voters, taking 51 percent of the women’s vote and 49 percent of the men’s.

The former secretary of state also leads Trump in the South by a margin of 56 percent to 21 percent among all voters.

Participants said in the poll that they believe Clinton would be better for the economy and also said she would be better at keeping them safe from terrorist attacks.

Among three different income categories, Clinton led Trump in voter percentage. Trump fared best among those making more than $75,000 dollars with 26 percent of voters siding with him. Trump did worse with participants who made between $25,000 and $75,000, receiving 19 percent of the vote.

“Trump has substantial ground to make up to compete effectively for Latino voters who are a major voting block in battleground states like Florida, Nevada and Colorado,” Kevin Wagner, an associate professor of political science at FAU, said in a BEPI news release.

“The trend suggests that Latino voters will only grow in importance in this election year and may be pivotal in deciding the winner.”  

Ryan Lynch is the multimedia editor of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @RyanLynchwriter.