Former President Donald Trump holds a seven-point lead over Democrat incumbent Joe Biden, a recent poll of the critical swing state has found.

The Marist poll of 1,259 Ohio adults found that 48 percent of respondents plan to vote for Donald Trump in the upcoming November presidential election, with just 41 percent indicating that they plan to vote for Joe Biden.

Another five percent say that they will vote for Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with one percent explaining that they plan to vote for either Green Party candidate Jill Stein or Libertarian Chase Oliver. Four percent of voters said that they are currently undecided and less than one percent indicated that they will support Independent Cornel West in November.

The poll also found that Trump is garnering support from young and black voters, two demographics that traditionally support the Democratic Party. Among those under 35 years old, 46 percent say they will be supporting Trump and just 37 percent say that they will support Biden in November. Another 12 percent plan to vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

A slim majority of black voters in Ohio, 57 percent, say that they will support Biden in November, marking a drastic fall from 2020 when the Democrat won 83 percent of the black American vote in the Buckeye state.

A whopping 59 percent of respondents said that they were “better off” under Trump than under Biden. Trump also garnered an approval rating in the state of 45 percent, holding a significant advantage over Biden, with just 36 percent saying that they approve of the current president.

Ohio is worth 17 electoral votes and is one of the crucial swing states that will likely decide the outcome of the November election along with Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Earlier polls have found that the former president leads the Democrat incumbent in five of the swing states with the two tied in Nevada and Biden holding a one-point lead in Michigan.

George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley said that Hunter Biden being found guilty of felony weapons charges this week changes things for him moving forward in his other criminal cases.

A federal grand jury convicted Hunter Biden, 54, on all three felony counts, including lying to a federally licensed firearms dealer, making a false claim on a federal firearms background check form, and being in possession of an illegally obtained firearm. Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison for his crimes and up to $750,000 in fines.

Turley said that the verdict changes things for Hunter Biden in his upcoming federal trial in California for alleged tax crimes.

“His counsel has got to refocus on that tax case, they are going into that case now with a convicted felon,” Turley said. “Now, these are very different types of claims, but there is a third front developing. Congress just referred what I consider to be a very strong case for a perjury investigation of Hunter Biden after his testimony before Congress.”

Turley said that the expectation exists that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who was nominated by Biden, is “going to basically scuttle that referral.”

“But the problem is that the House seems to have Hunter Biden dead to rights … on those perjury claims,” Turley said. “It is hard to see how what he said before Congress was true. It is a much more serious offense. It is currently sitting on the desk of Merrick Garland.”

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Turley said that the allegations in the tax case are “much more serious” and could be enhanced now since Hunter Biden is a convicted felon.

“As for Hunter Biden, this may prove the least of his problems, you know, the chances that he goes to jail, probably are low, but I would not dismiss them,” Turley said. “The problem with a jury nullification strategy is it can tick off a judge. This was a case of overwhelming evidence, and it seemed pretty clear to everyone that the defense was going for a nullification. That may not sit well with the judge. But even if she imposed jail time, it would be relatively short, the tax case, not so much. That is a much more serious set of allegations where jail time can be more substantial.”

WATCH:

WATCH: Jonathan Turley explains how Hunter Biden is going to appeal his guilty verdict: Hunter is “challenging this gun law that his father has been a great advocate of and has actually called for greater punishment for these types of gun violations.”pic.twitter.com/L2N8PUzdky

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) June 11, 2024