Harris leads Trump 44% to 42% in US presidential race: Poll
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US Vice-President Kamala Harris waving before she boards Air Force Two for campaign travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 23.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK - US Vice-President Kamala Harris opened up a marginal 2 percentage point lead over Republican Donald Trump after President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign and passed the torch to her, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
The poll, conducted on July 22 and 23, followed both the Republican National Convention where Trump on July 18 formally accepted his party’s nomination and the announcement by Mr Biden on July 21 that he was leaving the race and endorsing Ms Harris.
Ms Harris, whose campaign says she has secured the Democratic nomination, led Trump 44 per cent to 42 per cent in the national poll, a difference within the 3 percentage point margin of error.
Ms Harris and Trump were tied at 44 per cent in a July 15-16 poll, and Trump led by 1 percentage point in a July 1-2 poll, both within the same margin of error.
While nationwide surveys give important signals of American support for political candidates, just a handful of competitive states typically tilt the balance in the US Electoral College, which ultimately decides who wins a presidential election.
The most recent poll results underscored the rationale for Mr Biden dropping out of the race and for Ms Harris replacing him on the ticket.
Some 56 per cent of registered voters agreed with a statement that Ms Harris, 59, was “mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges”, compared with 49 per cent who said the same of Trump, 78.
Only 22 per cent of voters assessed Mr Biden that way.
Mr Biden, 81, ended his re-election effort after a debate with Trump in which he often stammered and failed to aggressively challenge attacks by Trump
Some 80 per cent of Democratic voters said they viewed Mr Biden favourably, compared with 91 per cent who said the same of Ms Harris.
Three-quarters of Democratic voters said they agreed with a statement that the party and voters should get behind Ms Harris now, with only a quarter saying multiple candidates should compete for the party’s nomination.
When voters in the survey were shown a hypothetical ballot that included independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Ms Harris led Trump 42 per cent to 38 per cent, an advantage outside the margin of error.
Mr Kennedy, favoured by 8 per cent of voters in the poll, has yet to qualify for the ballot in many states ahead of the Nov 5 election.
Ms Harris campaigned in the critical battleground state of Wisconsin on July 23. She won support from major party figures and attention has since turned to who she will pick as her running mate.
Many respondents in the Reuters/Ipsos poll said they knew nothing about the Democrats seen as potential picks to join Ms Harris’ ticket.
About one in four registered voters said they had never heard of US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a former Democratic presidential candidate who had the highest favourability rating – 37 per cent – of the potential Harris running mates in the poll.
One in three had not heard of California Governor Gavin Newsom, with about the same share saying they looked on him favourably.
Half of registered voters in the poll had never heard of Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and two-thirds knew nothing of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.
The poll, which was conducted online, surveyed 1,241 adult Americans nationwide, including 1,018 registered voters. REUTERS
