KOMO poll: Clinton has big Washington lead, big unfavorables; Inlsee leads

SEATTLE -- A new KOMO News/Strategies 360 poll shows Hillary Clinton well ahead of Donald Trump among voters in the state. But voters here also still have pretty high negative feelings of her.

The poll also shows incumbent Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee leading Republican Bill Bryant, though the Republican is winning Eastern Washington.

The poll shows Clinton's unfavorable rating is at 48 percent.

But it could be worse. It could be Trump's unfavorable rating, which stands at 63 percent.

"Of all the years that I've been looking at polls, I don't think I can remember any poll that I've ever been involved over those years where that any candidate rivaled an unfavorable number of 63 percent, unprecedented," said Ron Dotzauer, CEO of Strategies 360.

Dotzauer has run many high-profile campaigns, including for U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. He says more voters identify themselves as Democrats than Republicans in the state.

How voters view candidates on the issues

The state's voters give Clinton a 31-point edge over Trump on social issues and a 28-point lead on foreign policy.

Voters view Clinton as weaker on jobs and the economy and on fighting terrorism.

The KOMO News/Strategies 360 shows Trump even with Clinton among independent voters and voters with a high-school diploma or less.

"The blue-collar voters have been his since he got into this race and remain to this day Donald Trump's base, and probably on Election Day, they will still be the biggest preponderance of his base," Dotzauer said.

Clinton really pulls ahead among women and college-educated voters.

And the bottom line: Clinton is at 47 percent in Washington, and Trump is at 31 percent.

Some votes are going to Libertarian and Green Party candidates. But there's no net effect since the third-party candidates are taking evenly from Clinton and Trump.

The telephone poll of 500 likely voters was taken Sept. 29 to Oct. 3. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent.

For more information on the poll, including cross tabulations, go here and here to download them.

Race for governor

The Democratic and Republican candidates for governor provide different views of how the state is faring.

Incumbent Jay Inslee, a Democratic, is optimistic.

Republican challenger Bill Bryant hits hard on problems in transportation, prisons and mental health.

The KOMO News/Strategies 360 poll asked likely voters how things are going in the state.

The poll found 56 percent say the state is headed in the right direction.

"The engine's red hot in Washington state," Dotzauer said. "They're pretty confident about the future. That's a really important. It's kind of a major mood indicator."

Inslee's approval rating

Voters give Inslee a 59 percent approval rating on the environment and a similar rating on the economy.

But his approval rating drops sharply when it comes to funding education and on transportation.

"He's actually upside down by a point on transportation. So if I were the governor looking at going into the next term, and you want to enhance your position, those are the two issues you need to move. And right now, he's not doing particularly well," Dotzauer said.

Inslee has raised more money in the race and can dominate the airwaves.

And Bryant has another challenge.

About 62 percent of those polled either had no opinion of Bryant, a former Seattle port commissioner, or didn't recognize his name.

With a month to go, the poll shows Inslee is favored 50 to 40 percent.

Bryant is far ahead in in Eastern Washington. Support in Western Washington and its larger population gives Inslee the edge.