Harris, Trump tied in new national poll

Vice President Harris and former President Trump, set to debate for the first time Tuesday evening, are tied, according to a national poll released by the Pew Research Center.

The survey, released Monday, shows both major candidates getting 49 percent support nationally, while 2 percent of respondents say they would vote for neither candidate or select “other.”

Harris’s support consists of 29 percent who say they “strongly” support her and 20 percent who “moderately/lean” toward her. Trump, meanwhile, sees a more loyal base, with 31 percent “strongly” supporting him and 18 percent who say they “moderately/lean” toward backing him, the survey found.

The respondents seem equally certain in their decision to vote for their preferred candidate. Among those who selected the GOP nominee, 91 percent say they are certain they will vote for him, and 8 percent say there is a chance they could change their mind. Among those who support Harris, 91 percent are certain they will vote for her, while 9 percent say that could change.

The top-line results are little changed from the previous poll, conducted in early August, soon after Harris replaced President Biden as the party’s nominee.

In that poll, which also gave respondents the option of selecting independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Harris led Trump narrowly — 46 percent to 45 percent. Kennedy garnered 7 percent, and another 1 percent said they would vote for neither or selected “other,” according to the August survey.

That poll had marked a slight improvement over an early July poll — the most recent to still ask about Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee — which showed Trump with 44 percent support, the president with 40 percent support and Kennedy with 15 percent support. Roughly 2 percent selected neither or other.

The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s aggregate of polls shows Harris in the lead nationally with 49.4 percent to the former president’s 46.2 percent.

The Pew Research Center poll was conducted Aug. 26 to Sept. 2 among 9,720 U.S. adults, including 8,044 registered voters. The overall margin of sampling error is 1.3 percentage points.