Trump Leads Clinton in Florida

Donald J. Trump has slowly but surely improved his standing in state and national polls since the final presidential debate.

A New York Times Upshot/Siena poll released Sunday is consistent with that trend: It gives Mr. Trump a four-point lead in Florida, 46 percent to 42 percent, in a four-way race. In our first poll of Florida a month ago, Mr. Trump trailed Hillary Clinton by a percentage point.

The survey is Mr. Trump’s best recent poll in Florida, and it should be interpreted with caution. In general, it is best to look at an average of polls. Mrs. Clinton still leads in an average of recent Florida surveys by nearly three points.

But the poll is not the only one to show Mr. Trump in the lead. A Bloomberg/Selzer poll, which is methodologically similar to the New York Times Upshot/Siena poll, showed Mr. Trump with a two-point edge last week.

Mr. Trump, a Republican, has no plausible path to the presidency without Florida’s 29 electoral votes. But his Democratic opponent has many ways to win without the state. Mrs. Clinton would almost certainly win if she carried North Carolina and Pennsylvania, where recent Upshot/Siena polls have shown her with a comfortable advantage.

The poll was taken before the F.B.I. director, James Comey, informed Congress that the bureau had obtained additional information of potential relevance to an investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s emails. National polls ahead of Mr. Comey’s letter showed Mrs. Clinton with a six-point lead, an edge that was somewhat smaller than it was earlier in the month.