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A BOOST FOR HARRIS
By Laura Santhanam, @LauraSanthanam
Health Reporter & Coordinating Producer for Polling
 
Moving Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the ticket has reinvigorated Democrats’ prospects of winning the White House, according to a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll.
 
Weeks ago, many Democrats were losing confidence that their party’s presumptive nominee, President Joe Biden, would be able to defeat former President Donald Trump. Before Biden left the race, 39 percent of Americans — regardless of who they supported — said he stood a chance at winning the election.
 
Now, 48 percent of U.S. adults said they think Harris will win, putting her in a dead-heat with Trump. Another 48 percent of Americans said they think he has the best shot of getting elected.
 
The poll was conducted from Aug. 1 to 4, right before Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
 
“Democrats are totally of a different mindset,” said Lee Miringoff, who directs the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. “There’s no doubt that the Harris candidacy has unleashed a whole new wave of enthusiasm among Democrats, and in the process has also moved some voters who were either straddling the fence or were in Trump’s column.”
 
Confidence in Trump’s ability to recapture the presidency has been shaken since a month ago, when 59 percent of voters overall thought he’d win.
 
“We’ve seen a complete flip of a switch,” Republican strategist Olivia Troye said.
Compared to June, more people also now report being satisfied with the candidates for the president. In this latest poll, 47 percent of Americans said they were satisfied with who Democrats and Republicans have put forward, marking a 5 percentage-point increase since earlier in the summer. Still, 50 percent of Americans overall say they are dissatisfied with their options.
 
For much of his presidential race, Biden struggled to gain momentum among younger voters and voters of color. These latest poll numbers show where Harris has already gained ground and how much further she needs to go to motivate communities to throw their support behind her, Miringoff said.
 
Harris vs. Trump

If the election were today, 51 percent of U.S. registered voters said they would support Harris and 48 percent said they would back Trump, a gap that narrowly falls within the margin of error.
 

• Support for Harris rose 6 percentage points since Biden announced he would exit the race
• Trump saw a 2 percentage-point jump in support since late July
• Democrats, Black voters and white women who graduated from college were most likely to support Harris
• Republicans, white men who did not graduate from college and white Christian evangelicals were most likely to support Trump

• With a wider roster to choose from, 48 percent said they would vote for Harris if the election were today
• 45 percent said they would back Trump
• 5 percent of registered voters said they would vote for Kennedy