A Quinnipiaic poll gives Hillary Clinton a seven point lead over Donald Trump nationally. | Getty Quinnipiac poll: Clinton up 7 nationally

Hillary Clinton has a 7-point lead over Donald Trump nationally, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

Heading into the third and final presidential debate, Clinton tops Trump among likely voters, 47 percent to 40 percent. Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson has 7 percent support, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein registers at 1 percent.


More than 9 in 10 Democrats are behind Clinton, while 8 in 10 Republicans are backing Trump, who has a 4-point advantage among independents.

Clinton and Trump are separated by a 2-point margin among men, 43 to 41. The former secretary of state, however, has double-digit advantages among women (52 to 37) and minority voters (63 to 25).

Clinton also edges Trump among white, college-educated voters (46 to 42), while Trump prevails by double digits with white voters without a college degree (49 to 35).

According to the survey, the race is also tight among voters 50 and older, though Clinton leads substantially with voters age 18 to 34, and 35 to 49.

The Quinnipiac University survey of 1,007 likely voters was conducted Oct. 17-18 via landlines and cellphones. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.