Vice President Kamala Harris has now closed the gap between her and former president Donald Trump across four key swing states.
New findings by The New York Times suggest that the two presidential hopefuls are now in tight races across Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.
Trump had seemed set to run away with these states just a few weeks ago, but new polling shows Harris is gradually erasing his lead.
He remains ahead in Georgia 50 percent to her 46, and in Nevada it is 48 percent for him while 47 for Harris.
Harris has claimed 49 percent of voters to Trump’s 47 in North Carolina, one of the core battleground states he carried in 2020.
The polls do continue to show some risk for Harris – including that 49 percent of voters see her as too liberal, while 33 percent of voters see Trump as too conservative.
Democratic voters meanwhile are now excited by Harris being the nominee, with 85 percent saying they are enthusiastic about voting for her. This roughly matches voters’ level of enthusiasm for Trump
Harris, who would be the first Black woman to serve as president, has the support of 84 percent of Black voters, according to the polls.
That is higher than President Biden’s support than when he dramatically dropped out of the race just a few weeks ago.
Meanwhile her backing among Latino voters sits at 54 percent, and has taken a 14 percent point lead over Trump among women in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada.
Harris now leads nonwhite voters in those three states by 29 points, while Biden had led those voters in the same states by 17 points in May of this year.
Trump meanwhile is maximizing his support among white voters without a college degree, taking 66 percent of support from them across the Sun Belt states.
Harris also holds a 13 point advantage over Trump among TikTok users in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada, indicating her online traction with younger voters.
Harris now leads nonwhite voters in those three states by 29 points, while Biden had led those voters in the same states by 17 points in May of this year
Voters gave both candidates a 48 percent favorable rating. In one survey in February voters had viewed Harris more unfavorably.
Despite the positives, Trump holds the advantage among voters on what are bound to be two issues integral to the race to the White House, the economy and immigration.
Voters ranked those as the most important facing the nation, but the two are closely tied on the question of who would handle those issues better.
Trump is still favored on the economy, the polls found, but has dropped considerably since Biden dropped out of the race.
Harris meanwhile had widened the Democratic edge over Trump on the topic of abortion.
Trump is more trusted by voters when dealing with immigration, leading Harris 53 percent to her 43.
When third party candidates were included, the state of the race in the states was unchanged, with Robert F. Kennedy taking just 4 percent of likely voters.
A significant amount of voters viewed Trump as being a stronger leader and believed that he would shake things up.
When asked ‘who cares about people like me’, Harris had a slight advantage over Trump, 52 percent to 48 percent.
Alina Szmant, 78, a Democrat and retired scientist in Wilmington, North Carolina, told the Times she was excited about the possibility of voting for the first female president.
She said: ‘Kamala is extremely well prepared to be an excellent president. As for Mr. Biden? She would have voted for him mostly because of her disgust for Mr. Trump.
‘[Biden] was not my first choice. He wasn’t even my second or third or fourth choice.’
While Sergio Villavicencio, a Marine veteran who lives in Arizona, told the Times he voted for Trump in 2016 and then Biden in 2020.
The 40-year-old now plans to support Harris because she seems more concerned about his issues.
He said: ‘If that person’s supposed to be representing all of us, and he’s picking and choosing who’s he’s representing, billionaires and Elon Musk and all these kinds of corporations.
‘He’s not speaking for the people. [Trump is] not talking to the people. He doesn’t give a damn about the people.’
Just last week, the Times published polling showing how Harris had moved ahead of Trump by four points in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Among likely voters in each state, 50 percent said they would likely vote for Harris while 46 for Trump.
Based on the new figures, Harris has erased the lead Trump was building in the states before President Biden dropped out of the race.
The first presidential debate between the two is set to be held in Philadelphia on September 10 and will be moderated by ABC News.
The first vice presidential debate between Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio will take place on October 1 in New York City, and will be hosted by CBS.