Vice President Kamala Harris is gaining ground against former President Donald Trump in Arizona, according to recent polls. But the race still remains close in the crucial battleground state.
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, are set to campaign in Phoenix on Friday as part of their swing state tour this week, ahead of the Democratic National Convention later this month. Arizona was viewed as a Republican-leaning state for much of the 2000s and 2010s but has shifted toward Democrats in recent election cycles as Phoenix, Tucson, and their suburbs have become more Democratic.
Biden flipped the state in 2020, becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry it since 1996. Polls showed Biden trailing Trump in Arizona and other swing states before his withdrawal from the race last month, which followed a debate performance that fueled concerns about his age.
However, polls show that Harris has gained ground against Trump since becoming the nominee amid renewed enthusiasm and fundraising. Prior to Biden’s exit, surveys showed Harris polling similarly, if not behind, the former president.
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A new poll released Thursday of voters in Arizona, which has 11 Electoral College votes, showed Harris with a narrow lead over Trump.
The survey, conducted by Arizona polling firm HighGround, found Harris with nearly a 3-point lead over Trump.
It found that 44.4 percent of respondents plan to back Harris, while 41.6 percent plan to support Trump. Just over 5 percent said they were voting for another candidate, and about 9 percent didn’t know for whom they planned to vote.
The survey was conducted among 500 likely voters from July 30 to August 5. Its margin of error was plus or minus 4.38 percent.
Chuck Coughlin, President & CEO of HighGround Inc., wrote in a press release of the poll that Harris is starting off “with a narrow but notable lead.”
“It’s a good start, but with the attacks already starting, we expect some rough patches ahead. For the past three cycles, Democrats have consistently performed better with the independent and unaffiliated voter audience. Harris continues that trend in our latest polling, but it will be up to her and her team to keep them,” Coughlin wrote.
Newsweek reached out to the Harris and Trump campaigns for comment via email.
Meanwhile, a poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of The Telegraph found Harris with a single-point lead over Trump (44 percent to 43 percent). That poll was conducted among 567 likely voters from July 31 to August 3.
A Public Policy Polling survey conducted among 618 registered voters from July 29 to July 30 found Trump with a 2-point lead (49 percent to 48 percent). It was conducted among 618 registered voters from July 29 to July 30.
Elsewhere, a Public Opinion Strategies poll conducted among 400 likely voters from July 23 to July 29 found Trump leading by five points (48 percent to 43 percent).
FiveThirtyEight’s polling aggregate shows that Trump is leading by an average of 0.4 percentage points in recent polls.
