WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump remain at odds less than seven weeks before the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, according to new polls released on Thursday that also showed a neck-and-neck race in the key state of Pennsylvania.
While the polls showed registered and likely voters gave Democrat Harris higher marks during last week’s debate with her Republican opponent, they also showed the race — particularly in the crucial state — remains close, consistent with other polls.
In the national poll, Harris and Trump were tied at 47% among the 2,437 likely voters surveyed Sept. 11-16, according to a survey by The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
In Pennsylvania, one of seven crucial states, Harris held on to her four-point lead, leading 50% to 46% with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points, according to a Times poll.
Separate findings by The Washington Post also showed a neck-and-neck race among candidates in the state, which along with Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin is among those likely to determine November’s outcome.
Of the 1,003 likely and registered voters in Pennsylvania surveyed between Sept. 12 and Sept. 16, 48% said they would cast their vote for Harris, while 47% said they would cast their vote for Trump. That’s a 1-point difference, which is within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
The majority of respondents told the Post they were “extremely motivated” to vote and that protecting American democracy was “extremely important.” But voters were divided over which candidate would best protect the country’s freedoms, with 48% choosing Harris and 45% choosing Trump.
The issue looms large as Harris, a former prosecutor and attorney general, tries to maintain the Democrats’ grip on the White House after Biden dropped his re-election bid in July. Trump, who faces four criminal cases, continues to falsely claim that his defeat to Biden in the 2020 election was due to fraud.
Trump denies any wrongdoing.
A NYT/Inquirer/Siena poll also found that American democracy was a top issue for voters, along with the economy, abortion and immigration. Preferences for both candidates remained largely unchanged.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll last week, Harris held a 5 percentage point lead among registered voters, with Trump ahead at 47% to 42%.
(Writing by Susan Heavey; editing by Doina Chiacu and Tomasz Janowski)
