Campaign

Harris edges Trump in Pennsylvania poll, backed by majority of women

Vice President Harris edged out former President Trump by 3 points in a new poll in Pennsylvania, where the Democratic nominee was boosted by strong support from women.

Harris led Trump 48 percent to 45 percent, followed by independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with 4 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters in Pennsylvania, which was released Wednesday. No other candidate received more than 1 percent support.

In a head-to-head race against Trump, Harris maintained her 3-point advantage, 50 percent to 47 percent.

Harris held a strong advantage among women in the poll, which was conducted Thursday through Monday among 1,738 likely voters and had a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points.

With third-party candidates included, Harris led Trump 54 percent to 41 percent among women, while Kennedy earned 3 percent support. In the head-to-head race, Harris earned 55 percent support among women to Trump’s 55 percent.


Harris was also boosted by support from likely voters who are white and college-educated in Pennsylvania. They favored Harris over Trump 67 percent to 28 percent, while Kennedy got 3 percent. In a two-way race, Harris garnered 68 percent support from the demographic, compared to Trump’s 30 percent.

Broken down by age group, Trump led Harris only among likely Pennsylvania voters 50 to 64 years old.

Those voters favored Trump over Harris 54 percent to 41 percent, while 2 percent backed Kennedy and 2 percent backed another candidate. In a head-to-head match-up, that age group still backed Trump with 56 percent support to Harris’s 42 percent.

Harris led among younger Americans and seniors. When third-party candidates were included, 48 percent of likely Pennsylvania voters aged 18 to 34 backed Harris, 37 percent supported Trump, 9 percent endorsed Kennedy and 4 percent supported someone else. In the head-to-head race, Harris led Trump 55 percent to 40 percent.

Likely Pennsylvania voters 35 to 49 years old gave Harris 57 percent support to Trump’s 57 35 percent, and 7 percent backed Kennedy. In a head-to-head, 59 percent backed Harris, and 37 percent supported Trump.

Among seniors, Harris led by a slimmer margin than with younger Americans. Including all candidates, Harris picked up 50 percent support to Trump’s 46 percent, while Kennedy earned 1 percent. In a head-to-head race, Harris led Trump 50 percent to 47 percent.

The poll was conducted after Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her running mate. Her poll numbers showed strong support from what is considered a critical battleground state this November.

Harris has also been riding a wave of enthusiasm since she replaced President Biden atop the Democratic ticket.

In the Decision Desk HQ/The Hill’s latest Pennsylvania polling average, Harris led Trump narrowly, 47.6 percent to 46.9 percent. Her lead grew in the Pennsylvania polling average with third-party candidates: Harris got 47.4 percent, Trump earned 43.4 percent and Kennedy had 2.8 percent support.