Trump Vs. Harris: Vice President Hangs Onto Slender Lead But Ex-President Improves His Position As Better Economic Steward

Benzinga · 10/17 13:23

Vice President Kamala Harris maintained the slender lead she had over her Republican rival Donald Trump in a new nationwide poll.

The Matchup: Harris led by Trump by a 45% to 42% vote margin, the latest weekly Reuters/Ipsos poll results showed. The vice president’s three-point lead remains steady with the result from the previous week’s poll.

The latest poll that ended on Sunday surveyed 938 U.S. adults online, including 807 registered voters. Among these, 769 were considered the most likely to turn out on Election Day. The poll had a margin of error of four percentage points.

Harris maintained the same lead among the likely voters, with the percentage of voters supporting her at 47% compared to the 44% support for Trump.

The latest week’s poll found that voters, particularly Democrats, were more enthusiastic about voting in the current general election than they were ahead of the Nov. 2020 election. Seventy-eight of registered voters (86% of Democrats and 81% of Republicans) said they would certainly cast their vote. Around the same time in Nov. 2020, a more modest 74% said they were certain to vote.

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Voters’ Assessment: Both candidates did not enjoy a majority favorability rating despite voters being more enthusiastic about casting their vote. Forty-six percent of voters said they had a favorable opinion about Harris and a more modest 42% assessed Trump positively.

Harris’ lead over Trump reflected voters assessing her positively for her healthcare policy and handling political extremism. Here’s how they fared on main election issues:

  • Healthcare policy: Harris led Trump by 5 points.
  • Political extremism: Harris led Trump by 14 points.
  • Stewardship of economy, employment, and jobs: Trump led Harris by 5 points.

Voters’ opinion about Trump’s ability to handle the economy improved from September when he had a 2-point lead.

Twenty-six percent of poll respondents picked “economy, unemployment and jobs,” as the biggest problem facing the nation, compared with 23% who picked political extremism and 3% who said healthcare.

“Given the close match, the candidates’ efforts to ensure that their supporters actually cast ballots will likely be key in determining the winner,” the pollster said. Just two-thirds of U.S. adults voted in the Nov. 2020 election, which was the highest turnout in over a century, the report said, citing estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Pew Research Center.

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