Early voting in Tennessee and other states is underway in the race for the White House and other political seats that will hold authority in shaping our communities for the next four years.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have both been hitting the campaign trail hard from visits to areas devastated by recent hurricanes to bringing out larger-name supporters to try and sway voters to the Republican or Democrat ticket in 2024.
It is expected to be a tight race until the last vote is counted this presidential election. Here’s what the latest polls show and what Trump and Harris have been up to on the campaign trail this past week.
Tennessee Voter Guide: What to know about the key races
Who is winning the presidential election 2024 polls?
The latest polls show Harris ahead, but the margin is minimal.
A Reuters/Ipsos six-day poll, which closed on Monday, showed Harris ahead in a 46% to 43% marginal lead over Trump. Which differed little from the 45% to 42% advantage she had over Trump in a Reuters/Ipsos poll from a week earlier.
Harris may hold a small lead, but a majority of those surveyed favored Trump when it came to the economy and immigration. When asked which candidate had the better approach to the issues, Trump led on the economy – 46% to 38% – and on immigration by 48% to 35%.
And while voters in the poll favored Trump on immigration and the economy, Harris was seen as the better candidate when it comes to addressing political extremism and threats to democracy, with Harris leading 42% to 35%. She also led on abortion and healthcare policies.
With just two weeks left ahead of the Nov. 5 Election Day, it may end up being a photo finish in this race.
Liz Cheney stumps for Kamala Harris
On Monday, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) made stops in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan with Harris, in an effort to make headway in these key states with voters who are undecided in this election.
Cheney and her father former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney went against party lines recently to endorse Harris for president. Liz Cheney has encouraged Republicans to “meet the moment” and vote for the current vice president.
“As we meet here today, our republic faces a threat unlike any we have faced before, a former president who attempted to stay in power by unraveling the foundations of our republic,” Cheney said during a speech in Ripon, Wis., the birthplace of the Republican Party. “We cannot turn away from this truth in this election, putting patriotism ahead of partisanship is not an aspiration. It is our duty.”
Cheney has been an open critic of Trump for years and was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. She also served as the vice chair of the House select committee charged with investigating the attempted insurrection.
Trump takes a ‘hyper-masculinity’ approach to finish out campaign
Trump has moved away from the blue state bashing while campaigning in some of those states, to talking about golfer Arnold Palmer’s genitalia in a Pennsylvania speech to doing a McDonald’s photo-op and attending an NHL game in what appears to be attempts of keeping the male vote on lock.
The Pennsylvania speech with riffs about Palmer being “all man,” also came curse-laden calling Harris a “sh*t vice president.”
Trump’s approach may be on track to keeping his most ardent supporters and encouraging the turnout of low propensity male voters, it may rebuke the suburban women swing voters once considered key campaign targets.
“I’ve never seen anyone focus more strenuously on current supporters rather than trying to expand the pool of potential voters,” said Frank Luntz, a GOP pollster and frequent Fox News contributor with more than three decades of political experience.
But this hyper-masculine style of campaign, or as one of his critics has called a corrosive version of masculinity, may have some drawbacks, according to USA TODAY reports.
“In the end it is all about turnout,” Luntz said. “And I can understand this strategy when you’ve got two or three days to go. But he’s been doing it now for weeks, even months, and that means that he has to get every single person who likes him to vote for him, and that’s a very tough thing to do. It’s doable, but it’s a tough challenge.”
When do we vote for president in 2024?
The general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
When does early voting end in Tennessee?
Early voting began Wednesday, Oct. 16, and runs through Thursday, Oct. 31.
Times and locations for early voting vary by county in Tennessee. To find out where early voting precincts will be and when they will be open check with your local county elections commission, which you can find at sos.tn.gov/elections.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Who is winning the 2024 presidential race? Latest from polls
