- Vice President Harris leads Trump 45% to 41% in the Reuters/Ipsos poll.
- A 4% lead larger than the one-point advantage the vice president held in the same poll in July.
- 73% of Democratic voters are more enthusiastic since the vice president entered the race.
WASHINGTON: Democrat Kamala Harris leads Republican Donald Trump by 45% to 41% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Thursday showed the vice president was sparking new enthusiasm among voters and shaking up the race ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
The 4% lead among registered voters was wider than the one-point advantage Harris held over the former president in late July. Reuters/Ipsos survey.
The new poll, which was conducted over eight days through Wednesday and had a 2% margin of error, showed Harris gaining support among women and Hispanics.
Harris led Trump by 49% to 36% (or 13 percentage points) among both women voters and Hispanic voters. Reuters/Ipsos According to polls conducted in July, Harris had a nine-point lead among women and a six-point lead among Hispanics.
Trump led among white voters and men, both by similar margins as in July, although his lead among voters without a college degree narrowed to seven points in the latest poll, down from 14 points in July.
The results illustrate how the US presidential race has been shaken up over the summer. President Joe Biden, 81, abandoned his faltering campaign on July 21 after his disastrous debate performance against Trump prompted widespread calls from fellow Democrats for him to abandon his re-election bid.
Harris has since gained ground on Trump in national polls and in key states. While national polls, including Reuters/Ipsos The state-by-state Electoral College results provide important signals about the views of the electorate and determine the winner, although a handful of battleground states are likely to be decisive.
“It's obvious that running against Harris is more challenging for Trump given the shift in these numbers, but it's certainly not insurmountable,” said Matt Wolking, a Republican campaign strategist who worked on Trump's 2020 campaign.
He said Trump needs to stay as focused as possible on his campaign “so as not to scare away” voters who were leaning toward him because they didn't like Biden.
About 73% of registered Democratic voters in the survey said they were more enthusiastic about voting in November after Harris joined the race.
The latest polling period partially overlapped with the August 19-22 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, where Harris formally accepted her party's nomination, and it remains to be seen whether the same level of enthusiasm for Harris will continue.
