When third-party contenders were added to the mix, Harris, 59, gained an additional point on Trump 46%-44%.
Polls have pegged mixed results as to whether third-party contenders hinder Trump more than Harris.
For example, Harris has a 1.1-point lead over Trump in the most recent national RCP aggregate of polls for a two-way matchup.
Also of note in the Cook Political Report’s findings is Harris dispatching Trump in North Carolina, which was generally regarded as one of the reddest of the top battleground states.
Trump has his second-largest lead of the battleground states in North Carolina, according to the most recent RCP aggregate, with a 2.4-point edge.
Vice President Kamala Harris surpassed or tied former President Donald Trump in all but one battleground state, according to a fresh survey dump, demonstrating momentum on her side in yet another round of polling.
According to a Cook Political Report poll, Harris prevailed over Trump on average in the top seven battleground states, tying him in Georgia and giving the former president a narrow advantage in Nevada.
Harris, 59, gained one more point over Trump, 46 percent to 44 percent, when third-party candidates were included.
When Harris faced Trump one-on-one in Arizona, he won 48 percent to 46 percent; they tied in Georgia (48 percent to 48 percent); Harris led in Michigan (49 percent to 46 percent), North Carolina (48 percent to 47 percent), Pennsylvania (49 percent to 48 percent), and Wisconsin (49 percent to 46 percent); the only state where Harris lagged behind was Nevada (45 percent to 48 percent).
After the inclusion of third-party candidates, Harris scored 46 percent against Trump’s 42 percent in Arizona; they were tied in Georgia (46 percent to 46 percent); Harris continued to lead in Michigan (46 percent to 44 percent), North Carolina (46 percent to 44 percent), Pennsylvania (48 percent to 43 percent), and Wisconsin (48 percent to 43 percent); however, they fell even further in Nevada (42 percent to 47 percent).
Including third-party candidates in the race would help Trump when Joe Biden was the expected Democratic nominee.
Polls have shown conflicting findings about whether third-party candidates hurt Trump more than Harris. When third-party candidates are taken into account, Trump performs worse against Harris according to a number of recent polls, however some RealClearPolitics aggregates show the opposite to be true.
In the most recent national RCP aggregate of polls, for instance, Harris leads Trump by one point in a two-way race. That drops to a 0.8-point advantage when other competitors are included.
Notable among the findings of the Cook Political Report is Harris’s crushing of Trump in North Carolina, which was thought to be one of the reddest battleground states.
The most recent RCP aggregate shows that Trump has a 2 point, 4 point advantage in North Carolina, his second-largest lead among the battleground states. That’s just behind Nevada, where Trump leads by 3.5 points, according to RCP.
Since 2004, Nevada has not cast a Republican ballot in a presidential election cycle.
In June of last year, Trump unveiled a policy proposal that purportedly targeted the Silver State, which is known for its high service tax. During a rally in Las Vegas last week, Harris repeated that suggestion. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the move could cost between $150 billion and $250 billion over the course of the next ten years.
Overall, since May, Harris seems to have reduced Trump’s lead in the swing states by roughly six points.
In the seven battleground states, Trump was either leading or dead even with Biden, according to Cook Political Report’s May findings, which showed that he had defeated him with an average of three points overall.
In those crucial bellwether states, Senate Democrats significantly outperformed Biden overall, according to that May survey dump, which alarmed that party and raised the possibility of a revolt against him last month.
Between July 26 and August, 2,867 likely voters were sampled for the most recent Cook Political Report survey. 2. Republican pollster GS Strategy Group and Democratic pollster BSG took it.
Harris’s surge to the top of the ticket last month led Trump’s campaign to predict that the polls would close significantly. Harris would go through a “honeymoon” period, according to pollster Tony Fabrizio, but the race’s dynamics wouldn’t change all that much.
