Vice President Kamala Harris has experienced an impressive surge in the polls, leading Donald Trump by 5 percentage points in a new USA Today/Suffolk University poll. This is an 8-point turnaround from where President Joe Biden stood just two months ago before endorsing Harris as his replacement. Harris has made significant gains in key demographics that typically vote Democratic but had shown lackluster support for Biden. She is now leading Trump among Black voters by 62 points, Hispanic voters by 16 points, and young voters by 13 points. This contrasts with Biden’s previous standing where Trump had the advantage among these groups.
Harris has particularly resonated with voters making less than $20,000 annually, where she now leads Trump by 23 points, a significant improvement from Biden’s three-point deficit in this income bracket just a few months ago. David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, attributed some of Harris’ success to the emphasis on demographics such as young people, persons of color, and low-income households during the Democratic National Convention. As a result, Harris has seen a major shift in support from these groups, with a more positive outlook among voters who typically lean Democratic.
The poll was conducted among 1,000 likely voters from August 25 to August 28 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. This positive trend for Harris comes on the heels of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago where she rallied her party behind her and presented a vision of a campaign focused on the future. Harris contrasted her message of “joy” with Trump’s portrayal of a second Democratic administration as potentially bringing “bad things.” The survey also marked the first conducted after independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump, potentially influencing the polling dynamics moving forward.
The exit of Kennedy from the race raised questions about how this would impact Trump’s support. While it remains unclear how Kennedy’s endorsement will affect Trump’s standing in future polls, the August survey showed Trump up two points from late July. Independent candidate Cornell West also experienced a one-point increase in support, with Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver maintaining one percent backing each. The June poll, conducted among 1,000 registered voters, provided a snapshot of the candidates’ standings before Kennedy’s withdrawal and had a margin of error of plus and minus 3.1 percentage points.
Overall, Vice President Kamala Harris has seen a significant turnaround in the polls, leading Donald Trump by 5 percentage points in a recent survey. This represents an 8-point increase from where President Joe Biden previously stood before endorsing Harris as his successor. Harris has shown strength in key demographics that typically vote Democratic, including Black voters, Hispanic voters, and young voters. Additionally, she has made impressive gains among low-income households, now leading Trump by 23 points in this income bracket. The positive trends for Harris come after the Democratic National Convention, where she presented a message focused on the future and contrasted her platform of joy with Trump’s warnings of potential negative outcomes under a Democratic administration.
