Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton in Iowa 44 percent to 37 percent. | AP Photo Swing-state polls: Trump leads in Iowa, narrows the gap in Colorado and Virginia

Donald Trump has taken the lead over Hillary Clinton in Iowa and narrowed the former secretary of state’s advantage in Colorado and Virginia, a new Quinnipiac University poll shows.

The Quinnipiac poll of likely voters in the four swing states, released Thursday, asked respondents about a four-way presidential race that also includes Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.


Trump, who trailed Clinton by 2 points in Iowa in an August Quinnipiac poll, now leads by 7 points, 44 percent to 37 percent. He also leads in Georgia, where likely voters also preferred him by a 7-point margin, 47 percent to 40 percent. Stein earned the support of 2 percent of respondents in Iowa and did not register any support in Georgia, while Johnson polled at 10 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Both the Clinton campaign and Priorities USA, a super PAC backing the former secretary of state, stopped airing advertisements for her in both Virginia and Colorado over the summer amid a seemingly insurmountable polling advantage. But the fresh Quinnipiac poll shows that advantage narrowed in both states.

In Colorado, Clinton’s lead has shrunk from 8 points in mid-August to just 2 points in the most recent poll, 44 percent to 42 percent, with Johnson polling at 10 percent and Stein at 2 percent. Clinton's lead in Colorado falls within the poll’s margin of error, putting the two candidates in a statistical tie in the state.

In Virginia, the 9-point advantage Clinton held over Trump last month has shrunk to 6 points, 45 percent to 39 percent, in the poll released Thursday. Johnson earned the support of 8 percent of respondents from Virginia while Stein polled at 1 percent there.

The new polls are the latest in an array of positive swing-state news for the Manhattan billionaire, who has polled well in purple states of late. A Fox News poll out Wednesday showed Trump with leads in Ohio, North Carolina and Nevada and a Suffolk University poll released earlier in the day Thursday put Trump narrowly ahead of Clinton.

The news has been better for the former secretary of state in nationwide polls. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday afternoon put Clinton ahead of Trump by 6 points among likely voters across the country. But even if likely voters nationwide prefer Clinton, Trump could still carve a path to the White House with wins in key swing states.

The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted from Sept. 13-21 via landlines and cellphones. It reached 644 likely Colorado voters and 638 Georgians likely to vote, both with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.9 points. The poll also reached 612 Iowans, with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4 points, and 659 likely Virginia voters, with a with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.9 points.