The Democratic candidate leads the Republican by 3-6 points before the party convention in Chicago.
US Vice President Kamala Harris is leading former President Donald Trump as she prepares for her signature moment at the Democratic National Convention, opinion polls show.
On the eve of the convention in Chicago, Harris has a lead of between three and six percentage points in the race for the White House, two opinion polls showed on Sunday.
Harris leads Trump 49-45 percent among registered voters and 51-45 percent among likely voters in a two-candidate race, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll.
In a five-candidate race that includes Robert F. Kennedy, Cornel West and Jill Stein, Harris leads Trump 47-44 percent among registered voters and 49-45 percent among likely voters.
In a CBS News poll, Harris has a three-point lead nationally, leading Trump by 51-48 percent.
In the seven swing states considered crucial to the outcome of the election (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina), Harris and Trump are tied 50-50.
The polls are the latest sign that Harris' late entry into the race has energized Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters after months of poor polling performances for President Joe Biden, who abandoned his reelection bid last month amid concerns about his fitness to serve a second term.
On Saturday, a New York Times/Siena College poll showed Harris in contention in the “Sun Belt” states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, which had leaned heavily toward Trump when Biden was the Democratic nominee.
Before traveling to Chicago on Sunday, Harris held several campaign events in Pennsylvania, whose 20 electoral votes flipped from Trump to Biden in 2020.
“I think we’re the underdogs,” Harris said at a campaign stop in Moon County.
“We have a lot of work to do to earn the vote of the American people. That’s why we’re on this bus tour today and we’re going to go around this country like we have been doing so far and talk to people, listen to people and hopefully earn their votes over the next 79 days.”
A day earlier, speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Trump criticized Harris over inflation and her past opposition to fracking, which is popular in the state, while launching a series of personal attacks.
“People say, ‘Be nice.’ Have you heard her laugh? That’s the laugh of a crazy person… That’s the laugh of a lunatic,” Trump said.
While Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, were formally nominated in a roll call vote earlier this month, the four-day convention that begins Monday will give Democrats a chance to show unity and build enthusiasm among voters.
Biden, former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former first lady Michelle Obama are among the Democratic luminaries set to address the convention.
While Democrats have quickly rallied around Harris, the Democratic nominee is expected to face protests over the Biden administration's support for the war in Gaza on the sidelines of the convention.
Dozens of Democratic delegates calling themselves “Delegates Against Genocide” have said they will use the convention to push for an embargo on U.S. arms sales to Israel.
The Democrats' draft platform, released last month, calls for an immediate ceasefire in the war, without mentioning the Palestinian death toll or calling for an end to U.S. arms shipments to Israel.
