Vice President Kamala Harris has now closed the gap between her and former President Donald Trump in four key swing states.
New findings by The New York Times suggest that the two presidential candidates are now locked in neck-and-neck races in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.
A few weeks ago, it looked like Trump would carry these states, but new polls show Harris is slowly but surely narrowing his lead.
In Georgia, he still has a 50 percent lead, compared to 46 percent. In Nevada, he has a 48 percent lead, while Harris has a 47 percent lead.
Harris won 49 percent of the vote to Trump’s 47 percent in North Carolina, one of the key states where he held a majority in 2020.
New findings from The New York Times suggest the two presidential candidates are now locked in neck-and-neck races in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina
Trump appeared to be running away with these states just a few weeks ago, now that new findings show Harris is widening his lead
The polls still show some risk for Harris: 49 percent of voters think she is too liberal, while 33 percent of voters think Trump is too conservative.
Democratic voters are now excited about Harris being the nominee, with 85 percent saying they are excited to vote for her, roughly matching voters’ enthusiasm for Trump
Polls show Harris, who would be the first black woman to become president, has the support of 84 percent of black voters.
That’s more support for President Biden than when he dramatically withdrew from the race a few weeks ago.
Meanwhile, her support among Hispanic voters stands at 54 percent, and she holds a 14 percentage point lead over Trump among women in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada.
Harris now has a 29-point lead among non-white voters in those three states, while Biden had a 17-point lead among those voters in the same states in May of this year.
Meanwhile, Trump is maximizing his support among white voters without a college degree, with 66 percent of his support in the Sun Belt states.
Harris also holds a 13-point lead over Trump among TikTok users in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada, indicating her online popularity among younger voters.
Trump supporters gather before a campaign rally in the Bronx borough of New York in May of this year
Voters gave both candidates a 48 percent positive rating. In a February poll, voters had rated Harris less favorably.
Despite the positives, Trump holds an edge among voters on two issues critical to the White House race: the economy and immigration.
Voters named these issues as the most important for the country, but the two are closely related when it comes to who would best address them.
Polls show Trump is still the favorite on economic issues, but his votes have fallen significantly since Biden dropped out of the race.
Meanwhile, Harris had increased the Democratic lead over Trump on abortion.
Voters trust Trump more on immigration: 53 percent for Harris, 43 percent for her.
Even when third-party candidates were included, the state tally remained unchanged: Robert F. Kennedy received only 4 percent of likely voters.
A significant portion of voters saw Trump as a stronger leader and believed he would shake things up.
When third-party candidates were included, the state tally remained unchanged, with Robert F. Kennedy, pictured here, winning just 4 percent of likely voters
On the question “who cares about people like me?” Harris narrowly edged Trump, 52 percent to 48 percent.
Alina Szmant, 78, a Democrat and retired scientist from Wilmington, North Carolina, told the Times she was excited about the opportunity to vote for the first female president.
She said, “Kamala is extremely well-prepared to be an excellent president. And Mr. Biden? She would have voted for him largely because of her dislike of Mr. Trump.
‘[Biden] wasn’t my first choice. He wasn’t even my second or third or fourth choice.’
Sergio Villavicencio, a Marine veteran who lives in Arizona, told the Times that he voted for Trump in 2016 and then for Biden in 2020.
The 40-year-old now wants to support Harris as she seems more concerned about his problems.
He said, ‘If that person is supposed to represent all of us, and he chooses who he represents, billionaires and Elon Musk and all those kinds of companies.
Supporters of Harris and Minnesota vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz hold placards during campaign rally at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas
He does not speak for the people. [Trump is] not talking to the people. He doesn’t give a damn about the people.’
Just last week, the Times published a poll showing how Harris had a four-point lead over Trump in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Of likely voters in each state, 50 percent said they were likely to vote for Harris, and 46 percent said they were likely to vote for Trump.
Based on the new numbers, Harris has erased the lead Trump built up in the states before President Biden withdrew from the race.
The first presidential debate between the two will take place on September 10 in Philadelphia and will be moderated by ABC News.
The first vice presidential debate between Democratic Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio will take place on October 1 in New York City and will be hosted by CBS.