Harris within 'striking distance' of Trump in his home state

A new poll of likely voters shows Vice President Kamala Harris closing the gap with former President Donald Trump in his home state of Florida . The USA TODAY/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV survey found the ex-president with 47 percent support while the Democratic presidential nominee has 42 percent support in the Sunshine State.

But the poll has a 4.4 percent margin of error, meaning Harris is within 'striking distance' of the Republican presidential nominee with less than three months to go before Election Day. The new poll is the smallest gap between the former president and Harris in the state since she took over the top of the Democratic presidential ticket with President Biden's exit from the presidential race in July.

Florida was once considered the biggest presidential battleground state in the country, but it has been trending red in recent elections. The last Democrat to win the state in a presidential election was former President Obama in 2012. Trump won the state in 2016 and in 2020 when he beat President Biden by more than three points despite losing the election.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis crushed his Democratic opponent in the 2022 governor's race there with a 19 point victory, and Republicans also have a massive advantage in Florida when it comes to registered voters with more than one million more than Democrats ahead of November's election. While the GOP still has a sizable advantage in the state, Harris is closing the gap thanks in part due to a major boost in enthusiasm since she took over the top of the ticket.

The USA TODAY/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV poll of likely Florida voters found Harris now matches Trump when it comes to enthusiasm for their party's candidate. 89 percent of each group say they are very or somewhat excited to vote for their candidate this fall. For Democrats, that's a massive change from when Biden was at the top of the ticket. In June, only 60 percent of supporters nationwide were excited to vote for the incumbent president.

The vice president also has an advantage over Biden when it comes to favorability in the state. 44 percent of voters say they have a favorable view of her while only 39 percent said the same of Biden. However, Harris is still at a disadvantage to Trump when it comes to favorability in the state where 50 percent of voters view him favorably. 

Even before Biden exited the race, his campaign argued that Florida was in play for the president, especially with abortion rights front and center in the state with the six week abortion ban which went into effect earlier this year and a ballot measure.

While Harris has traveled to the state as vice president she has yet to revisit the state as the Democratic presidential nominee, instead campaigning in must-win battleground states so far. In May, Harris visited Florida to mark the state's six week abortion ban going into effect. Her campaign continues to make abortion access a key issue on the campaign trail, which could help Democrats as it has been a galvanizing issue in recent elections.

However, abortion rights did not have the same impact on the 2022 midterms in Florida as it did elsewhere such as Michigan and Pennsylvania after Roe v Wade was overturned. Meanwhile, Trump has held multiple campaign events including rallies in Florida as he seeks a second term in the White House.

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