Can Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump? Latest poll updates

In less than 56 days, Vice President Kamala Harris will go head-to-head with Donald Trump as Americans cast their votes in the 2024 election.

Both candidates are sharpening their claws ahead of Tuesday night’s presidential debate in Philadelphia, the first since President Joe Biden stepped down from the Democratic ticket in July.

This will be a key opportunity for Harris to showcase her policy platform, as many voters are still in doubt about what she stands for.

A set of new polls shows substantial variation in presidential support among 14 states, with Trump and Harris tied in Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina.

So how will Harris actually fare against Trump in November?

Harris has a 2.8-point lead over Trump in the latest average of national polls, collated by FiveThirtyEight. On average, Harris has been marginally ahead of Trump in national polls.

Each state tells a different story, however. A new set of polls from Morning Consult surveyed voters in 14 states up to September 8, finding that Harris has the strongest lead in Maryland, with a +32 point margin. For Trump, his strongest lead is in Texas, at +8 points over Harris.

The two candidates are tied in Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina, while Trump has only a +2 point lead in Florida, smaller than in most polls in recent months.

Trump also leads by +2 points in Arizona, a state which has voted Republican in every presidential election since the 1950s — except 2020, when Biden won the state by 0.3 percent.

Another new poll from TheNew York Times/Siena College found that former president Trump is leading Harris overall by a slim +1-point margin, at 48 percent to 47 percent.

So why may that be? While Trump has the advantage of three candidacies and one