Harris Edges Out Trump Boosted By Women, Hispanics: Poll

WASHINGTON, DC (REUTERS) – Democrat Kamala Harris leads Republican Donald Trump 45% to 41% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll published on August 29 that showed the vice president sparking new enthusiasm among voters and shaking up the race.

The 4-percentage point advantage among registered voters was wider than a 1-point lead Harris held over the former president in a late July Reuters/Ipsos poll. The new poll, which was conducted in the eight days ended August 28 and had a 2-percentage point margin of error, showed Harris picking up support among women and Hispanics.

Harris led Trump by 49% to 36% – or 13 percentage points – among both women voters and Hispanic voters. Across four Reuters/Ipsos polls conducted in July, Harris had a 9-point lead among women and a 6-point lead among Hispanics.

Trump led among white voters and men, both by similar margins as in July, though his lead among voters without a college degree narrowed to 7 points in the latest survey, down from 14 points in July.

Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 61% respondents who intended to vote for Biden were doing so mainly to stop Trump, 52% of Harris voters in the August poll were voting to support her as a candidate rather than primarily to oppose Trump.

“We see it in this poll that people are more motivated about the future than the past,” said Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, a liberal group that aims to grow the numbers of women of color in elected office. “They see Kamala Harris as the future, and Republicans see this election as just about Trump. Voters are more likely to be engaged when given the option of ‘more than’ beating Trump.”

But Trump voters also voiced enthusiasm about their candidate, with 64% saying their choice was more motivated by backing Trump than opposing Harris.

Voters picked Trump as having a better approach to managing the U.S. economy, 45% to 36%, a wider margin than Trump had in another Reuters/Ipsos poll this week.

Harris, by contrast, had a 47% to 31% advantage on abortion policy. Some 41% of voters in the poll – and 70% of Democrats – said they were worried the next president might sign a national ban on abortions.

The poll was conducted nationally and gathered responses from 4,253 adults, including 3,562 registered voters.