WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) – Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris leads Republican Donald Trump 47% to 40% in the race to win the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, as she appeared to blunt Trump’s edge on the economy and jobs, a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Tuesday found.
Harris had a lead of six percentage points based on unrounded figures – which showed her with support from 46.61% of registered voters while Trump was backed by 40.48%, according to the three-day poll that closed on Monday. The Democrat’s lead was slightly higher than her five-point advantage over Trump in a Sept 11-12 Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The latest poll had a margin of error of about four percentage points.
While national surveys including Reuters/Ipsos polls give important signals on the views of the electorate, the state-by-state results of the Electoral College determine the winner, with seven battleground states likely to be decisive.
Polls have shown Harris and Trump are neck-and-neck in those battleground states, with many results within the polls’ margins of error. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll showed Trump with marginal leads in three of these states – Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina.
Asked which candidate had the better approach on the “economy, unemployment and jobs,” some 43% of voters responding to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll picked Trump and 41% selected Harris. Trump’s two-point advantage on the topic compares to his three-point lead in an August Reuters/Ipsos poll and an 11 point lead over Harris in late July shortly after she launched her campaign.
Harris entered the race after President Joe Biden folded his reelection effort following a poor debate performance against Trump in June. Trump at the time was widely seen as the frontrunner, partly based on his perceived strength on the economy after several years of high inflation under the Biden administration.
