In 2 New Polls, Some Worrying Signs for Harris

If Kamala Harris is still feeling the party vibe, this might end it. The vice president and former President Trump are neck-and-neck in the final New York Times/Siena College national poll of the election, released Friday, which the Times casts as a "not encouraging" sign for Harris. The poll of 2,516 likely voters, questioned between Sunday and Wednesday, puts the candidates at 48% support each. That may be concerning for Democrats who've led the popular vote in the past four presidential elections, including the one that planted Trump in the White House. Harris now appears to be in a worse spot than in early October, when the last NYT/Siena College poll showed her leading Trump 49% to 46%.

Another new poll from the Wall Street Journal finds Harris, who led Trump by two points in the same survey from August, now trails him by two points, 47% to 45%. However, either candidate could be ahead when the two polls' margins of error are considered. Still, there are hints of changing opinions. The WSJ poll finds 53% of voters view Harris unfavorably, compared to 45% who view her favorably. As the August poll showed an equal share of voters on either side of the question, this suggests Trump has eaten away at some of the positive impressions voters had of Harris immediately after her run was announced, per the Journal.

In what the Hill views as "another bad sign" for the VP, just 28% of respondents in the NYT/Siena College poll see the nation as currently headed in the right direction. Harris is gaining support on the economy, the biggest issue to voters, however. She now trails Trump by six points, compared to 13 points in a September poll. The percentage of respondents who view Trump as too old to be president remains unchanged from July at 41%. Trump has a big lead with male voters, while Harris leads with female voters. Harris also leads among the 15% of respondents who said they were undecided. She carries 42% support, compared to Trump's 32%. Of note: Both were national surveys, and the race is expected to come down to seven battleground states, where the polls also are essentially a toss-up. (More Election 2024 stories.)