Kamala Harris closes gap on Trump in polls, since launching presidential bid after Biden exit
- Harris’ gain comes largely from parts of the Democratic coalition that had soured on President Joe Biden
The polling is in, and Kamala Harris has narrowed the gap with Donald Trump.
Taken together, seven national polls taken since Harris launched her presidential bid on Sunday after Joe Biden’s exit from the race have cut the Democrats’ deficit about in half. Some closely watched polls – including a Wall Street Journal poll on Friday – have her in a statistical tie with the former president.
A New York Times/Siena poll on Thursday found that Harris had closed the gap by 6 or 7 percentage points, depending on whether third parties are included.
Harris’ gain comes largely from parts of the Democratic coalition that had soured on Biden. While the 81-year-old president was winning just 59 per cent of Black registered voters in The New York Times poll a month ago, Harris is at 69 per cent. She’s also increased her party’s share of Hispanic voters to 57 per cent from 45 per cent, and voters under 30 to 56 per cent from 46 per cent.
The Wall Street Journal poll found similar shifts, accounting for a surge in Democratic enthusiasm. While only 37 per cent of Biden voters were enthusiastic about his candidacy less than a month ago, now 81 per cent of Harris voters said they were enthusiastic.
