Vice President Kamala Harris has made notable strides in several key battleground states shortly after launching her campaign, recent Fox News polling reveals.
The latest surveys, released on Wednesday, compare Harris’ current standing in four crucial swing states to the polling numbers of President Joe Biden before he suspended his reelection bid in late July. The data shows that Harris is in a competitive race with former President Donald Trump in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina—states where Biden previously lagged by at least 5 points.
In Arizona, Harris is currently ahead of Trump by just 1 point (50% to 49%), an improvement from June when Biden was down by 5 points. Similarly, she holds a 2-point lead in Georgia and Nevada (50% to 48%). For context, Biden trailed Trump by 6 points in Georgia in April and by 5 points in Nevada in June.
However, in North Carolina, Trump is leading Harris by 1 point (50% to 49%), although he was previously ahead of Biden by 5 points in February.
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These surveys were conducted with 1,000 registered voters in each state between August 23 and 26, and feature a margin of error of 3 percentage points, indicating a statistical tie between Harris and Trump.
In response to the polling, Trump’s campaign released a memo labeling the findings as “atrocious,” claiming that Fox’s polling during the 2020 election cycle was off by several points compared to the actual election results. They highlighted a significant discrepancy, citing a Fox poll that showed Biden leading Trump by 10 points in Arizona just days before the election, ultimately leading to Biden winning by a narrow margin of 0.3 points.
Trump has been increasingly vocal about his discontent with Fox News this election cycle, previously calling their polling “fake” on his platform, Truth Social.
Harris has garnered significant momentum in her campaign, with other polls indicating a positive trend for Democrats in battleground areas. The Cook Political Report recently updated its ratings, indicating North Carolina has shifted from “leans Republican” to “tossup,” and states like Minnesota and New Hampshire are now categorized as “likely Democratic.”
In Pennsylvania, Quinnipiac and The New York Times have recent polls showing Harris leading by 3 to 4 points, while Biden was previously trailing Trump by 4.5 points according to RealClearPolitics. Harris is also showing a slight lead in Michigan and Wisconsin, though these states remain very competitive.
As of Wednesday, FiveThirtyEight reports that Harris is ahead of Trump by an average of 3.3 percentage points in national polls.