The 2024 presidential election appears to be coming down to the wire.
A new ABC News/Ipsos poll shows only 2 percentage points divide Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. The poll shows 50% of registered voters backing Harris vs. 48% for Trump. Among all adults, regardless of registration status, the race narrows to a single point – 49% for Harris, 48% for Trump.
In the previous ABC/Ipsos poll taken in September, Harris was leading by 4 points among registered voters and 5 points among likely voters.
Economic issues continue to be the largest concern for most voters, a factor that benefits Trump. The GOP nominee leads Harris by 8 points overall on who voters trust to handle the economy (46% to 38%) and 7 points on inflation (44% to 37%), results that have been consistent since August. More voters, however, thought Harris was looking out better for the middle class (42% – 37%).
Trump holds single-digit polling leads on handling crime and safety, national security and conflict in the Middle East. Harris holds a similar lead in “protecting American democracy.”
Both candidates struggle with favorability. Forty-four percent of those polled said they see Harris favorably vs. 35% who said the same for Trump. Harris’ favorability rating lost 3 points in the poll, and 47% now see her unfavorably. Fifty-eight percent said they have an unfavorable view of Trump.
Forty-eight percent said they see Harris as “too liberal” compared to 43% who see Trump as too conservative while 41% said Harris is ideologically “about right.” Forty-three percent said Trump was “ideologically “about right.”
Battleground states
In traditional Republican states, Trump is comfortably ahead 55% to 42%, the poll showed. In blue states, Harris is ahead 56% to 39%. In seven key battleground states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – the race is a dead heat at 49% each.
The ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted Oct. 4-8 among a random sample of 2,631 adults. The margin of error is plus/minus 2 percentage points.
