Latest polls show Harris taking over Trump nationally, gaining ground in swing states

The vice president has improved significantly on Biden’s battleground poll numbers

By Marin Scotten

News Fellow

Published July 31, 2024 11:45AM (EDT)

Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage for a campaign event at the Georgia State Convocation Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage for a campaign event at the Georgia State Convocation Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Vice President Kamala Harris has erased former President Donald Trump’s lead in key battleground states, with the two candidates now locked in a statistical dead heat, according to the latest Bloomberg News/Morning Consult polling.

Harris was backed by 48% of voters to Trump’s 47% across all swing states. The vice president is ahead in four battleground states, while Trump leads in two.

It’s a significant improvement for Democrats, who were down an average of 2 points in swing states prior to President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race.

Since Harris took over as the presumptive nominee, she’s overtaken Trump in Arizona and Nevada and more than doubled Biden’s lead in Michigan, where she currently leads Trump by 11 points.

Trump has a 4 point lead in Pennsylvania and a 2 point lead in North Carolina. The two candidates are tied in Georgia. Apart from Michigan and Pennsylvania, all results are within the margin of error.

The Trump-Harris matchup has attracted a wealth of new voters, with one-third of swing state voters saying they are more likely to vote now that Biden is out. Almost two thirds of Black voters said they are more likely to vote in November. 

Separately, a YouGov poll commissioned by The Economist and released Wednesday found Harris leading Trump nationally by 46% to 44%. A week ago, per YouGov, Trump was leading Harris 44% to 41%.

Though momentum has picked up significantly for Democrats, some have warned that the Harris campaign is in a “honeymoon phase” and that it will show up in the polls. 

“I would call it a honeymoon phase,” Steve Sisolak, a former Democratic governor of Nevada, told The New York Times. “We’ve got to keep the energy going. You got it started, now you’ve got to keep it going. It’s going to be a challenge for everybody.”

In the ten days since Biden dropped out, the Harris campaign says it has raised over $200 million and the vice president has attracted record-breaking attendance at rallies across the country. Harris is expected to pick her running mate on Monday and the two will begin campaigning in key swing states, sources told CBS.


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