According to a recently released national poll, Vice President Kamala Harris is leading former President Donald Trump by 7 points.
Harris, who accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination on Thursday night at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), has been in the presidential race for just over a month following President Joe Biden’s exit on July 21.
In recent weeks, most national overall polls have shown an extremely close race between Harris and Trump, the Republican nominee. However, most national overall polls show Harris leading nationally, although the two are tied in the swing states that are often the most crucial in determining the path to the White House.
On Friday, Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) and Braun Research released a new poll of 801 registered voters conducted between August 17 and 20. It found that 50 percent of voters support a Harris presidency, while 43 percent support Trump. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Broken down by party group, 95 percent of Democrats, 38 percent of independents and 2 percent of Republicans support Harris. A third of independents, 33 percent, support Trump, while 95 percent of Republicans and 3 percent of Democrats support him.
The poll was conducted while independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was still in the race. Kennedy Jr. officially withdrew from the race on Friday and endorsed Trump. National overall polls showed Kennedy Jr. receiving about 5 percent of the vote, a figure that could affect the outcome of the election because the margin between Trump and Harris is so small.
In contrast to the FDU poll results, a Rasmussen Reports poll released Thursday showed Trump leading Harris by three percentage points, 49 percent to 46 percent. The survey of 1,893 likely voters was conducted on August 15 and between August 18 and 21. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.
Newsweek reached out to Trump and Harris’ campaign teams via email on Saturday, requesting comment.
Photo by MAHKA ESLAMI/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images/Nic Antaya/Getty Images
Most national overall polls have Harris leading the race. According to RealClearPolitics, Harris is ahead by 1.5 percentage points, or 48.4 percent versus 46.9 percent for Trump. The New York Times Overall, Harris is two percentage points ahead with 49 to 47 percent.
Other aggregates show larger margins, such as FiveThirtyEight, where Harris gained 3.6 percentage points on Saturday, to 47.2 percent to 43.6 percent. Nate Silver’s Silver Bulletin also has Harris ahead, with 48 percent and Trump with 43.7 percent.
Aggregate polls are continually updated as new polling data is added, causing averages to change in real time. National aggregate polls serve as a “temperature test” and can gauge popular vote support, but they don’t necessarily translate into the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.
