Harris widens lead over Trump to 47%-40%, poll shows

US Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris leads Republican Donald Trump 47% to 40% in the race to win the November 5 US presidential election, as she appeared to blunt Trump’s edge on the economy and jobs, a Reuters/Ipsos poll published today found.

Harris had a lead of six percentage points based on unrounded figures – which showed her with support from 46.61% of registered voters while Trump was backed by 40.48%, according to the three-day poll that closed on Monday. The Democrat’s lead was slightly higher than her five-point advantage over Trump in a Sept 11-12 Reuters/Ipsos poll.

The latest poll had a margin of error of about four percentage points.

While national surveys including Reuters/Ipsos polls give important signals on the views of the electorate, the state-by-state results of the Electoral College determine the winner, with seven battleground states likely to be decisive.

Polls have shown Harris and Trump are neck-and-neck in those battleground states, with many results within the polls’ margins of error. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll showed Trump with marginal leads in three of these states – Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina.

Asked which candidate had the better approach on the “economy, unemployment and jobs,” some 43% of voters responding to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll picked Trump and 41% selected Harris. Trump’s two-point advantage on the topic compares to his three-point lead in an August Reuters/Ipsos poll and an 11-point lead over Harris in late July shortly after she launched her campaign.