GOP nominee Donald Trump (Photo: Twitter)
Donald Trump took a three-point lead in the Los Angeles Times tracking poll of the 2016 presidential race Tuesday, topping Hillary Clinton by 45.8 percent to 42.8 percent and breaking free from a virtual tie just a day earlier.
It was a 4.4 percent spike for Trump since Sunday.
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The result, however, remains in the poll's "area of uncertainty," which means the race is too close to call.
The USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Presidential Election Daybreak Poll is the first to reflect voters' sentiments after Clinton's near-collapse on camera in New York on Sunday. Clinton left a 9/11 memorial event early because she wasn't feeling well, and then, while entering a limousine, took a couple of jerky steps and fell, with Secret Service preventing her from landing on the ground.
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The Trump support comes amid reports that Democrats are worried that Clinton might need to be replaced.
Hillary Clinton collapses while being carried into a van in New York City on Sept. 11, 2016
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It's Trump's largest lead in two weeks.
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The survey asks more than 400 people each day about their voting intentions.
It's part of the Understanding America Study at the Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research at the University of Southern California.
Organizers explain their procedure: "Each day's poll respondents are a subset of the UAS election panel, roughly 3,000 U.S. citizens who were randomly recruited from among all households in the United States. Respondents are asked three predictive questions: What is the percent chance that (1) you will vote in the presidential election? (2) you will vote for Clinton, Trump, or someone else? and (3) Clinton, Trump or someone else will win?"
The poll results on Tuesday were generated from 2,665 answers.
Trump held a tiny margin early in July, only to have Clinton move up right at the time of the Republican National Convention. However, Trump moved ahead again, and during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, held a margin of 7.3 points.
Since then, there have been eight more lead changes in the poll.
Less than 24 hours earlier, the Simpson College and RABA Research poll showed Trump leading Clinton 43 percent to 42 percent in the battleground state of Iowa.
Heavy.com reported Tuesday that among the RealClearPolitics.com battleground states – Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin – Trump was leading in two, Clinton in six and there was a virtual tie in six more.
But the surveys were conducted before Clinton's health episode Sunday.
Similarly, an NBC poll conducted before Sunday showed Clinton's leading dropping by two points, to a 48-44 percent margin, since a week earlier.
