Harris, Trump locked in tight races across critical sunbelt swing states: poll
Former president Trump and Vice President Harris are locked in tight races across the sunbelt, according to the latest polling.
Harris was leading Trump by five points in Arizona, with 50% support to his 45%, and by two points in North Carolina where she led by a margin of 49% to his 47%, the new survey from New York Times/Siena found.
The latter figure is particularly concerning for Republicans, as Trump carried North Carolina in both his 2016 and 2020 contests.
Arizona and North Carolina had each been increasingly considered runaways for Trump during polling taken when President Biden was at the top of the ticket.
The poll surveyed 677 registered voters in Arizona between Aug. 8 and Aug. 15; 661 voters in Georgia and 655 in North Carolina from Aug. 9 to Aug. 14 and 677 voters in Nevada from Aug. 12 to Aug. 15.
The poll had some good news for Trump.
In Georgia, an all important Republican bastion, which he lost in 2020, Trump led Harris by four points, with 50% support to her 46%.
In Nevada, a state Trump lost in 2016 and 2020, he led Harris by a margin of 48% to 47%.
The survey also reported 43% of voters found Vice President Harris “too liberal or progressive,” while only 33% of voters said Trump was “too conservative.”
“It’s a whole new electoral map,” pollster Carly Cooperman told The Post. “I would say that these races are close, she is not definitively winning them, but it does open up a whole new path for Harris.”
On the issues, more voters in the four states surveyed believed Trump would do a better job on the economy — with him holding a decisive 56-41 advantage over Harris — and on immigration, where Trump led her 53% to 43%. Harris had a yawning lead on the issue of abortion, where she led him 56% to 38%.
“There is just such enthusiasm around her right now and excitement for he candidacy that people are willing to give her the benefit of the doubt,” Cooperman said.
The poll also found on the bottom of the ticket that Sen JD Vance was viewed favorably by 36% of voters, while 45% of voters had an unfavorable view. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, by contrast, was viewed favorably by 38% of voters and unfavorables were at just 35%.
More than half of voters said they were paying “a lot” of attention to the race, suggesting that views were hardening.
Last week the same poll found that Trump was losing Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan by four points. All three are critical 2024 battleground states and will be highly contested by both candidates.
