Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are neck and neck in Pennsylvania, an essential swing state.
A Washington Post poll published Wednesday found that Harris is favored by 48 percent of likely and registered voters, while Trump is favored by 47 percent of likely and registered voters. When third-party candidates are removed, the race becomes even closer, with Harris and Trump in a 47 percent matchup among likely voters, and Harris at 48 percent and Trump at 47 among registered voters.
Twice as many presidential debate watchers said that Harris won the face-off between the two candidates. Fifty-seven percent said that Harris had won, while only 27 percent said Trump. Seventeen percent thought that neither won.
The slim margin between Trump and Harris shows just how competitive this race has become, in a battleground state that was narrowly won the last two cycles: once by Trump in 2016 and then by Joe Biden in 2020. Following Harris’s strong debate performance, a few other polls placed Harris ahead of Trump in Pennsylvania. The New York Times published a poll Thursday that found her in the lead by four points, at 50 percent, with Trump at 46 percent. A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday found Harris was leading Trump 51 percent to 45 percent. A Franklin & Marshall College poll found that Harris was in the lead with 49 percent to Trump’s 46 percent.
For Harris, Pennsylvania is key to making it to the White House. If she loses Pennsylvania, she will have to win Georgia and North Carolina if she has any hope of making it to 270 electoral votes, according to Politico.
Trump’s campaign is focusing its energy on thwarting her advances in these three states. The former president has reportedly spent the most on advertising in Pennsylvania, hoping to secure voters in the pivotal state.
