With 27 days to go until the election, a new poll has found that former President Donald Trump still has some ground to make up against Vice President Kamala Harris.
The New York Times/Siena College Poll is also the first from the pollsters since July to show that voters are more likely to credit Harris than Trump with representing change and caring about people.
The results show the significant moves Harris has made since her campaign launched at full speed when she took over as the Democratic nominee following Biden’s decision to leave the race.
When it comes to who voters are more likely to vote for, the race still remains extremely close, with 49% of respondents backing Harris and 46% backing Trump. In mid-September, when the same poll was run, Harris and Trump were tied at 47% following their matchup on the debate stage.
In the last few weeks, Harris has made up ground amongst older voters, as well as appealing to Republicans, 9% of whom say they will cast their ballot for the Democrat this November, up from the 5% last month. Harris is also leading among non-white voters and younger voters when it comes to who they think will bring the most change.
Among the two, Harris is also seen as the more honest and trustworthy, as well as the more fun candidate.
As for Trump, the poll found that he holds leads on Harris when it comes to who voters think is the stronger leader and who they think will handle the economy better. Both results highlight top issues for voters in the economy and global conflicts like the Ukraine war and fighting in the Middle East. In fact, the poll highlighted that 75% of voters feel the economy is in poor condition.
The main demographic Trump is leading Harris is among males, where he is doing 11% better, compared to just 2% better than when he ran against Biden in 2020.
The Hill’s Decision Desk HQ, which takes an average of national polls, has found similar results to what the New York Times/Siena College poll found. Averages from the outlet show Harris is leading Trump 49.8% to 46.8%.
Harris has recently been making her media rounds after staying selective with her interviews during the first few months of her campaign. Most recently, she appeared on the podcast “Caller Her Daddy,” the daytime talk show “The View,”CBS’s “60 Minutes,” and even cracked open a beer on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
Meanwhile, the former president has been hitting the campaign trail hard, making a stop in Butler, Pennsylvania, last weekend. Butler was where a gunman opened fire at Trump during one of his rallies, striking him in the ear before he was fatally shot by law enforcement. Trump, his vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), and several top donors, including Elon Musk, all spoke at the rally.
The poll was conducted from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6 and included responses from 3,385 likely voters.