Harris holds slim leads in 4 swing states, Trump ahead in 2: Poll

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are virtually tied in seven key battleground states, just two weeks before the US presidential election, according to a Washington Post/Schar School poll.

Harris leads Trump 51-47% in Georgia, while Trump edges Harris 49-46% in Arizona, both within the poll’s 4.5% margin of error. Harris who rose as the party’s nominee after US President Joe Biden stepped aside over the summe also holds an advantage in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin where she will campaign with former Republican Representative Liz Cheney.

Trump led in North Carolina and was tied with Harris in Nevada 48 to 48, according to the poll of 5,016 likely voters surveyed from Sept. 30 to Oct. 15. The former president will hold a rally in North Carolina later on Monday after surveying recent damage from Hurricane Helene.

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Trump, 78, is making his third consecutive White House bid after losing to Biden in 2020. He continues to falsely blame widespread voter fraud and faces federal and state criminal charges over efforts to overturn the election results, among other charges. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

Harris, 60, is a former local prosecutor, state attorney general and U.S. senator seeking to rebuild the party’s diverse coalition of young voters, women and people of color as well as pick up some Republicans disillusioned with Trump.

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Monday’s findings echoed other recent polls that found a neck-and-neck race in the seven battleground states even as Harris holds an edge nationwide, according to some surveys.

Overall, 49 percent of likely voters said they support Harris and 48 percent backed Trump, the Post poll showed. Reuters/Ipsos polling last week found Harris holding a steady, marginal 45%-42% lead over Trump.

However, state-by-state results of the Electoral College will determine the winner of November’s contest. The seven battleground states are likely being decisive, with surveys of their likely voters offering an indication of the race so far.

Voters remain largely divided over whether they prefer Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris to handle key economic issues, although Harris earns slightly better marks on elements such as taxes for the middle class, according to a new poll.

A majority of registered voters in the survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research describe the economy as poor. About 7 in 10 say the nation is going in the wrong direction.

But the findings reaffirm that Trump has lost what had been an advantage on the economy, which many voters say is the most important issue this election season above abortion, immigration, crime and foreign affairs.

“Do I trust Trump on the economy? No. I trust that he’ll give tax cuts to his buddies like Elon Musk,” said poll respondent Janice Tosto, a 59-year-old Philadelphia woman and self-described independent.

An AP-NORC poll conducted in September found neither Harris nor Trump had a clear advantage on handling “the economy and jobs.” But this poll asked more specific questions about whether voters trusted Trump or Harris to do a better job handling the cost of housing, jobs and unemployment, taxes on the middle class, the cost of groceries and gas, and tariffs.

With inputs from agencies.