The odds of Donald Trump becoming the next president of the United States have jumped 33 percent since Friday’s news of FBI Director James Comey sending a letter to Congress that the bureau would investigate a new batch of Hillary Clinton’s emails.
Clinton was an overwhelming favorite as recently as Oct. 20, when she was -550 to win the election compared to +375 for Trump, according to oddsmaker Bovada. The same site has updated its odds and Clinton is now -300 compared to +200 for Trump, meaning that she is still a 2-to-1 favorite to claim the White House.
“In previous elections, we wouldn’t expect to see much line movement this late outside of a final debate bump for either candidate. Of course, this hasn’t been a typical election cycle,” Bovada head oddsmaker Pat Morrow said Monday.
Clinton has gone from 2/11 to 1/3 with Trump rising from 15/4 to 2/1 over the same time period, according to the site.
“As word trickled in via the cable news networks and Twitter regarding James Comey’s letter to Congress, we quickly suspended wagering on the event while we, and the world, tried to sort out all the implications of a renewed investigation,” Morrow said.
“Later that day, we re-opened the line with Hillary down to a 1/3 favorite and Donald Trump now only a 2/1 underdog. The line has held at those numbers, but whether it’s the FBI investigation, another Wikileaks dump or the next Trump gaffe, we assume they’ll be much more line movement before Election Day’.