Trump grabs slim lead over Harris in national survey

Former President Trump has a slight advantage over Vice President Harris with less than two weeks left in the White House race, a new survey shows.

The Wall Street Journal poll, released Wednesday, found Trump leading with 47 percent compared to Harris’s 45 percent. In the Journal’s August survey, the vice president led by 2 points. Both polls’ results were within the margin of error.

Views of Harris have turned more negative since the August iteration of the survey. Two months ago, voters equally viewed her favorably and unfavorably. Now, 53 percent said they have an unfavorable view of the Democratic nominee, while 45 percent said the opposite, the poll found.

Harris, who was launched into the race after President Biden stepped down, was riding a high of excitement and relief from Democrats who were nervous the incumbent would cost them the election. She rode that high after officially becoming the Democratic Party’s nominee at the convention in August, but she’s struggled to maintain the momentum.

Voters in the most recent survey gave Harris the worst job rating compared to the last two Journal surveys. About 54 percent of respondents say they disapprove of her work in office and 42 percent said they approve, the data shows.

Views of the GOP nominee have improved, however. Voters tend to remember Trump’s time in office more positively now than any point in the election cycle, with 52 percent approving and 48 percent disapproving, the poll found.

Trump also ranks higher among voters when asked about candidates’ agendas and policies. The survey found respondents generally have more positive views of the former president’s economic plan than proposals from the vice president.

With the campaign cycle in the final stretch, Harris and Trump are on the trail looking to earn every vote — focused mainly on the battleground states — in what is predicted to be one of the closest presidential races.

The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s aggregate of polls shows the vice president leading her GOP rival by 0.9 points nationally — 48.7 percent to 47.8 percent.

The Journal’s survey was conducted from Oct. 19-22 among 1,500 registered voters and has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.