PRESIDENTIAL RACE | Polls: Clinton pulling ahead in battleground states

WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton has widened her lead over Donald Trump in several states, including battlegrounds like New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Colorado, as more voters say the business mogul is not qualified to be president, according to polls in those states.

The polls also indicate that voter wariness of the Republican nominee could hamstring the party’s push to maintain control of the Senate, with Republicans losing ground in several key races.

The advantage for Clinton is so strong in Colorado, a traditional swing state, that the campaign temporarily stopped buying advertisements there in July, diverting the money to other regions, according to The Colorado Independent and other media reports. Clinton campaigned in Colorado on Wednesday.

“Colorado is no longer a battleground state,” prominent Colorado political analyst Floyd Ciruli wrote on the blog for his Ciruli and Associates consulting firm. Ciruli cited several trends, including a growing Hispanic population and a local Republican Party that has been hostile to Trump.

Colorado Republican officials said, however, they were confident about their chances, a sentiment that was shared by Trump.

“We’re going to win in ‘16, I have no doubt about it,” state party Chairman Steve House told GOP voters at a recent event in Colorado Springs, according to the newspaper.

Trump told supporters there in July that he was not concerned. “We do have to win Colorado,” he said during a July 1 speech in Denver, according to the paper. “I will be back a lot, don’t worry about it. I will be back a lot.”

Clinton was leading over Trump by an average of 8 points in polls compiled by Real Clear Politics in July.