Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 9 points heading into last presidential debate

LAS VEGAS: Hillary Clinton has taken a nine point lead over Donald Trump in a four-way race, a new national poll has found, hours before the two leaders meet in the third and final US presidential debate here.

Democratic party nominee Clinton has a nine point lead over her Republican rival, according to Bloomberg Politics poll in which the former secretary of state got 47 per cent support while the controversial real estate billionaire received 38 per cent backing in a four-way race.

Libertarian Gary Johnson received eight per cent support, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein registered three per cent, CNN quoted the poll as saying ahead of the final presidential debate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

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Clinton, 68, made significant gains in the new poll among demographic groups that she has struggled to win over during the campaign, and which have formed the bedrock of Trump's base.

The Democrat is now winning male voters, 46 per cent to 44 per cent, and voters without a college degree, 48 per cent to 44 per cent. Clinton also maintained a large 17-point edge among women voters overall, and carries white women 46 per cent to 45 per cent.

The poll also found that 56 per cent of voters said the 2005 recording of Trump talking about sexually assaulting women "will be a concern" as they vote, compared with 40 per cent who said he had put the issues to rest.

Clinton's lead is also helped by stronger partisan support. 93 per cent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters say they back Clinton, while 85 per cent of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters support Trump. Clinton leads 39 per cent to 38 per cent among independents ahead of the November 8 presidential election, the poll said.

Both candidates continue to shoulder net unfavorable ratings, though Clinton (-5, favorable vs. unfavorable) fares better than Trump (-25, favorable vs. unfavorable) on this measure, the report said.

The new poll also found that Clinton supporters were more likely than Trump supporters (59 per cent to 42 per cent) to say they would be "panicked" if their candidate's opponent won the White House. Additionally, Trump supporters were found to be slightly more enthusiastic and slightly more certain of who they would vote for.

The Bloomberg politics poll was conducted between October 14-17, and surveyed 1,006 likely voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 points.