With the 2024 presidential election just over two months away, the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is heating up.
Harris, who replaced President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket in July, is campaigning alongside running mate Tim Walz.
The latest polls indicate a tight race, with Harris maintaining a slight edge over Trump in national averages.
According to FiveThirtyEight, Harris holds a 3.2-point lead over Trump in the latest average of national polls. However, this margin is not uniform across demographics or battleground states.
A CBS/YouGov poll analyzed by The Independent shows that Harris is performing strongly with young voters, female voters, and Black voters, where she has a significant +65 point lead. On the other hand, Trump continues to dominate among male voters, the 45-64 age group, and white voters without a college education.
Independent voters remain a critical group, with a Morning Consult megapoll indicating a slight lean toward Harris. However, the independent vote is still volatile, with significant variation across different surveys.
This group was notably inclined to support independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. before he suspended his campaign in August and endorsed Trump.
Battleground states are proving to be crucial in this election, with Harris leading in six out of seven key states, according to research from the Cook Political Report.
Trump, however, holds a strong position in Nevada.
The gender divide in support for the two candidates continues to widen, with Harris seeing a +3 point increase in support from women post-Democratic National Convention, while Trump gained +5 points among men.
As the race intensifies, Harris is focusing on solidifying her support base, particularly among Democratic voters. A recent ABC News/Ipsos poll shows that Harris has improved her standing among Democrats, with 60% now strongly supporting her candidacy compared to just 34% who strongly supported Biden in July.
While the polls show Harris with a slight advantage, the race remains highly competitive, with both campaigns working to sway undecided voters and capture the all-important independent vote in the final stretch leading up to Election Day.
