Hillary Clinton speaks during the presidential debate at Hofstra University on Sept. 26. | AP Photo POLITICO/Morning Consult poll: Clinton handily beat Trump at debate

Hillary Clinton won Monday’s showdown with Donald Trump at Hofstra University, according the results of a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday.

Nearly half of the likely voters surveyed declared Clinton the victor in Monday’s presidential debate, the first of three in the run-up to November. Forty-nine percent said the former secretary of state bested her opponent, while 26 percent gave the edge to Trump. An additional 26 percent said they either didn’t know who won or had no opinion.


An overwhelming majority of likely voters said Monday’s bout made them more likely to tune into the next two debates at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (53 percent said “much more likely,” and 34 percent said “somewhat more likely”).

More than 6-in-10 said the presidential debates are important to how they will vote in the general election, but just 9 percent of respondents said Monday’s debate changed their minds about who they will vote for.

The survey of 1,253 likely voters was conducted online Sept. 26-27. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.