Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Photo: Brendan SMIALOWSKI and Patrick T. Fallon / AFP
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is performing better than President Joe Biden in battleground states likely to decide the 5 November election, narrowing the gap with Republican Donald Trump, according to an Emerson College/The Hill poll released on Thursday.
The poll showed former president Trump leading in four of the critical states: Arizona 49 percent to 44 percent, Georgia 48 percent to 46 percent, Michigan 46 percent to 45 percent, and Pennsylvania 48 percent to 46 percent. Trump and Harris are tied at 47 percent in Wisconsin, according to the poll.
Harris surpassed Biden's performance in an Emerson poll conducted earlier this month in each of the five states.
Harris hit the campaign trail this week after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday and endorsed his vice president.
The latest Emerson poll of registered voters was conducted July 22-23 and had a credibility interval for each state of plus or minus 3.4 percent.
A nationwide poll released on Thursday by the New York Times/Siena College also showed Harris doing better than Biden against Trump. It showed Trump leading Harris by two percentage points, 48 percent to 46 percent, among registered voters, while Trump topped Biden by eight percentage points, 49 percent to 41 percent, in a poll conducted three weeks ago.
The New York Times/Siena College poll was of 1142 registered voters nationwide and had a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.
A Reuters/Ipsos national poll released on Tuesday showed Harris with a 44 percent to 42 percent lead over Trump, a difference within the 3-percentage-point margin of error.
While nationwide surveys give important signals of American support for political candidates, a handful of competitive states typically tilt the balance in the US Electoral College, which ultimately decides who wins a presidential election.
- Reuters