Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris received no boost nationally — or in the critical state of Pennsylvania — following last week’s debate against Donald Trump and remains neck-and-neck with her GOP opponent, according to new polls.
The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College surveys found the current vice president and former president have 47% support apiece among likely general election voters nationwide, while Harris tops Trump, 50% to 46%, in Pennsylvania after their Sept. 10 debate.
With a full field of candidates, the 2024 major party nominees remain tied at 46% support nationwide. Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver were each backed by 2% of likely voters.
Trump, 78, did lose a single percentage point of support in both the two-way and four-way matchups after the debate with Harris in Philadelphia.
Only in the four-way race did Harris, 59, gain one percentage point of support post-debate.
Even the pair’s favorability ratings were nearly identical, with 48% preferring Harris and 47% having a good opinion of Trump. A majority of voters (51%) have an unfavorable view of Trump and 49% view Harris the same way.
Those results come even as 67% of the likely voters surveyed said the vice president did well against Trump in the debate. Just 40% of the voters said the 45th president performed well.
But nearly half (47%) of likely voters also view Harris as too liberal, whereas just 35% say Trump is too conservative.
That difference may be responsible for Trump holding off Harris among self-described independent voters, 48% to 45%.
Notably, though, those same independents gave the 45th president poor marks for his debate performance, with 65% saying Harris did well and just 30% saying Trump did well.
On the issues, voters still believe Trump would handle the economy (54%) and immigration (54%) better than the Democrat.
In Pennsylvania, the economy remains a significant concern, with 77% of likely general election voters rating it poor or fair and just 22% ranking it good or excellent.
Harris, on the other hand, surges ahead of Trump among voters concerned with a president’s handling of abortion (54%) and preserving democracy (50%).
Other demographics making up a potential winning Harris coalition nationwide include women (54%), voters ages 18 to 29 (58%), black and Hispanic voters (76% and 51%, respectively), and college-educated voters (61%).
Meanwhile, Trump consolidates a majority of non-college-educated voters (56%), white voters (54%), as well as voters from the Midwest and South (52% in each region).
The vice president is still winning over a majority of voters in the Northeast (54%) and on the West Coast (52%).
Harris is also supported by 59% of city-dwellers and 56% of suburbanites, while Trump gets 65% support from rural communities.
The Times/Inquirer/Siena poll was conducted Sept. 11-16 and surveyed 2,047 likely general election voters with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
