Poll: Democratic Surge Puts Harris in Virtual Tie With Trump

The split in the Democratic Party left when President Biden dropped out of the race, a new poll has found, making the reconfigured presidential race a virtual tie. The latest New York Times/Siena College poll has Donald Trump leading Kamala Harris, 48% to 47% among likely voters in a head-to-head match. Early this month, the same poll had found President Biden down 6 percentage points to Trump after their debate, the New York Times reports. The Democratic improvement can be attributed to the party's consolidation behind Harris; she now matches the level of Trump's in-party support, at 93%.

Almost four in five Democrats or voters who lean Democratic want Harris to be their nominee. Three weeks ago, just 48% of Democrats said they wanted their nominee to be Biden. And 70% of Democratic voters want the party to join forces quickly behind Harris, rather than conduct a longer, more competitive process to choose a nominee. There's other movement in the poll, the Times' Nate Cohn writes: Favorability ratings are up for Trump and Harris. Trump's is at a high point in this poll, 48%. He's always been between 39% and 45%. Harris' has jumped even more. She was at 36% in February, the last time the Times/Siena poll asked about her. Harris is at 46% now. Poll data can be found here. (More Kamala Harris 2024 stories.)