Former President Donald Trump is neck and neck with Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a new national poll released Monday.
The Harvard CAPS/Harris survey of registered voters found Trump tied with Harris at 46% support with Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent candidate Cornel West each receiving the backing of 1% of respondents.
In a two-way race, the 78-year-old Republican nominee leads the 59-year-old vice president by 1 percentage point, 47% to 46%
Six percent of registered voters were undecided in the four-way race while 7% were unsure in the head-to-head matchup, with slightly more undecideds leaning toward Harris (45%) compared to Trump (43%).
Trump was several points behind Biden and Clinton in September polls in 2020 and 2016, respectively. Gabi Broekema/USA TODAY NETWORK- Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORKVoters felt Trump would do a better job managing the economy, immigration, crime, and China, while Harris would be more effective handling policies related to abortion, climate change and racial equality.
A majority, 52%, approve of the job Trump did as president, while only 47% approve of Harris’ job as vice president.
“Harris has drawn to dead even but Trump has an edge in the underlying numbers given his higher job approval and the overall low approval of the Biden administration,” said Mark Penn, co-director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.
The survey’s findings suggest that Trump would likely emerge victorious in the Electoral College race, since Democratic candidates typically poll higher than Republican ones in national polls.
Democratic presidential candidates usually need at least a 3-point lead nationally to signal that they are also ahead in the swing states that will decide the election.
In 2016, for example, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton topped Trump by 2.1 percentage points in the national popular vote but lost several battleground states, handing Trump a decisive Electoral College victory.
The polls come one day before Harris’ first debate against Trump. AFP via Getty ImagesMeanwhile, a Pew Research Center poll, also released Monday, similarly found Harris and Trump locked in a dead heat.
The national survey, conducted between Aug-26 and Sept. 2, found both Harris and Trump garnering the support of 49% of registered voters.
The group’s previous poll, released in early August, found Harris (46%) with a 1 point advantage over Trump (45%).
At this point in the race in 2020, the Pew Research Center found President Biden leading Trump by 10 points; and in 2016, Clinton held a 7 point lead over the GOP nominee in early September.
