--- ---  # Almost Half of Voters Think Hillary Clinton Will Win First Presidential Debate by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 26, 2016 12:42 PM UTC  Students acting as 'stand-ins' for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump take part in a rehearsal for the first U.S. presidential debate at Hofstra University on September 25, 2016 in Hempstead, New York. Drew Angerer—Getty Images Students acting as 'stand-ins' for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump take part in a rehearsal for the first U.S. presidential debate at Hofstra University on September 25, 2016 in Hempstead, New York. Drew Angerer—Getty ImagesDrew Angerer—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 26, 2016 12:42 PM UTC Expectations for Hillary Clinton are high going into the[ first general election debate](http://time.com/4505999/presidential-debate-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-hofstra/?xid=homepage). Nearly half, 47%, of voters think Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will best Donald Trump during the prime time debate on Monday, according to a [new ABC News/Washington Post poll.](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/clinton-trump-race-narrows-doorstep-debates-poll/story?id=42313593) Thirty-three percent think Trump will win. The poll comes just a day after Clinton’s running mate Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia raised the bar on expectations ahead of the debate, telling a crowd in Florida on Sunday that his running mate will be “very, very good” on stage at Hofstra University. “When the lights are bright like they are now she brings the A-plus game,” Kaine said. The stakes will be high for both candidates at the debate with the race between Clinton and Trump narrowing in recent weeks. The ABC News/WaPo poll shows 44% of likely voters would vote for Trump if the election were held today and 46% would vote for Clinton. A new [_Bloomberg Politics_](http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-09-26/national-poll) poll finds the race even closer with the candidates tied, 46-46, among likely voters in two-way contests. The key to both of the candidates standing among voters is their core supporters—for Trump, the non-college educated white men who support him 76-17 and the college-educated white women who support Clinton 57-32\. In all,[ the poll shows](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/clinton-trump-race-narrows-doorstep-debates-poll/story?id=42313593), Trump leads by 16 points among white voters and Clinton leads among minority voters by 50 points. The electorate also appears to be divided starkly by gender, with both candidates leading voters of their respective gender by 19 points. The poll was conducted between Sept. 16 and Sept. 22 among 1,001 U.S. adults. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. 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