The latest presidential poll – one of the first since President Joe Biden exited the race – shows a new leader.
Vice President Kamala Harris opened with a 2 percentage point lead over Republican Donald Trump, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Harris, who has secured enough delegates to win the official nomination at next month’s Democratic convention, polled at 44% compared to Trump’s 42% among registered voters. Both of the figures are within the poll’s margin of error meaning it’s a statistical tie, but do reflect a change from one week ago when Trump was leading Biden by 2 percentage points.
In a three-way race that included independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Harris held a slight lead over Trump, 42% to 38% compared to 8% for Kennedy Jr.
People overwhelmingly support Biden exiting the race
Biden’s exit was popular, however, with 78% - including 86% of Democrats and 79% of independents – supporting him leaving the presidential race. Fifty-seven percent of Americans support Biden serving out the rest of his term as president, however, including 62% of registered voters, 88% of Democrats and 57% of independents. Only 35% of Republicans think Biden should finish out his term.
Forty-eight percent support Harris as the Democratic nominee, including 89% of Democrats. Harris has also seen her favorability numbers improve since Biden’s exit, improving from 39% in a mid-July poll to 44% now.
The Ipsos poll was conducted July 22-23 among 1,241 adults, including 1,018 registered voters, 426 Democrats, 376 Republicans and 341 independents.