Harris, Trump separated by 1 point in NC survey

Vice President Harris and former President Trump are separated by just 1 percentage point in the latest survey out of North Carolina.

The poll, conducted by High Point University, found Harris receiving 47 percent support from North Carolina registered voters and Trump with 46 percent.

About 1 percent of voters say they plan to cast their ballot for someone else, and 6 percent are undecided.

Early voting began Thursday in the Tar Heel State, a critical battleground that went to Trump in the 2020 election.

Voters who had already cast their ballot when surveyed were more likely to vote for the Republican candidate so far, the survey found; 50 percent of respondents who had already voted said they cast their ballot for Trump, compared to 48 percent for Harris.

Experts have long predicted that results in North Carolina will be close. According to the survey, among voters who are certain they will vote, Trump leads, while among those who say they will probably vote, Harris leads. Those results are flipped from a previous survey.

The results based on demographics are similar to other swing-state polling. The vice president leads among younger voters, women and voters of color, while the former president leads among older voters, men and white voters.

Harris is earning most of her support from the Charlotte and Raleigh areas, while Trump is favored in the western, southern and coastal parts of the state.

Both candidates have made several trips to North Carolina to appeal in recent weeks, including after its western region was battered by Hurricane Helene.

According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, Harris has a 0.9 percentage point lead over Trump nationally, 48.6 percent to his 47.7 percent. In North Carolina, the poll aggregation has Trump with a 0.9 percentage point lead over Harris, 48.9 percent to her 48 percent.

The High Point University surveyed 1,164 registered voters from North Carolina from Oct. 17-20. Its margin of error regarding respondents’ presidential choice was 3.7 percentage points.