US Vice President Kamala Harris is ahead of Republican rival Donald Trump by 5 percentage points, according to an NBC News poll released on Sunday. The poll indicates that respondents have developed a more favorable view of Harris since she became the Democratic presidential nominee.
When asked about their opinions of Harris post-nomination, 48% of the 1,000 registered voters surveyed responded positively, a significant increase from 32% in July. This marks the largest improvement in politician ratings reported by NBC since President George W. Bush’s favorability rose following the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Regarding Trump, 40% of participants viewed him positively, up from 38% in July. The poll, conducted between September 13 and 17, has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
In a separate CBS News poll, Harris led Trump by 4 percentage points among likely voters, with results showing 52% for Harris and 48% for Trump. This poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
These results are consistent with other recent national polls, including those from Reuters/Ipsos, indicating a tight race as the November 5 election approaches. While national surveys provide valuable insights into voter sentiment, the Electoral College’s state-by-state results will ultimately determine the election winner, with several battleground states likely to be pivotal.
Trump, 78, is running for the presidency for the third time after losing to Joe Biden in 2020, a loss he continues to attribute falsely to widespread voter fraud. He is currently facing federal and state criminal charges related to efforts to overturn the election results.
Harris, 59, a former US senator and prosecutor, is currently serving under Biden. If elected, she would be the first woman to hold the presidency in the nation’s 248-year history.
“She has shifted this race from being a referendum on Joe Biden to one focused on Donald Trump,” said Amy Walter, publisher and editor-in-chief of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
In CBS’s poll, which surveyed 3,129 registered voters from September 18 to 20, Harris gained 2 percentage points after a 50-50 split in August, bolstered by her debate performance on September 10 and positive economic news.
