The U.S. presidential election in November features a contest between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris. With a dramatic turn of events following a recent assassination attempt on Trump, a major shift has occurred in the election dynamics.
A new survey conducted by NPR, PBS, and Marist shows Kamala Harris with a promising chance of victory. She boasts a 51% popularity rating against Trump’s 48%. This marks a significant change from earlier predictions that favoured Trump. Harris, stepping in after Joe Biden withdrew from the race, has seen her popularity increase from just below 51% to maintaining strong support even with a third-party candidate in the mix.
The survey highlights Harris’s growing popularity among key voters such as Black voters, college-educated white women, and independent women. Despite Trump’s three-point advantage on economic issues, Harris shows robust gains across various policy areas, including a fifteen-point improvement on immigration issues over Biden’s previous standing.
Harris leads Trump by thirteen points among female voters, although she trails by nine points among male voters. Her lead among Black voters has dramatically increased from a 23-point deficit to a 54-point advantage.
Harris’s support among independent voters has also risen, and she now leads Trump by nine points. Her overall popularity has climbed from 40% to 46%, surpassing Biden’s figures and those of Barack Obama at similar stages.
In the wake of her surging popularity, Trump has launched attacks on Harris’s racial identity, which have been met with widespread criticism. This presidential race is shaping up to be one of unexpected twists and significant shifts in voter sentiment.
