Here comes the Sun (Belt): With Harris running, the presidential map has shifted back

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ATLANTA — President Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race may have reset the states considered up for grabs in November, as both major-party campaigns shift their attention to the Sun Belt once again.

The seven states decided by narrow margins in 2020 — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — are the primary focus of Vice President Harris and former President Donald Trump with fewer than 100 days until Election Day — and with early voting set to begin in many places weeks before that.

Four years ago, Biden narrowly won all of those states except North Carolina by stitching together a diverse coalition of voters that also gave the campaign multiple pathways to win.

But following his disastrous debate performance a month ago, polling averages showed him losing to Trump nationwide, and trailing outside the margin of error in every battleground state except the so-called “Blue Wall” states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Now, with Harris replacing Biden as the likely Democratic nominee, early surveys of the new presidential race show a changing contest that is close, driven by a surge in Democratic enthusiasm and Harris winning back younger, nonwhite voters that had soured on Biden.

Those shifting coalitions point to improved chances for Democrats in the more diverse Sun Belt swing states of Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada — and put the original battleground map back into place.

The latest NPR/PBS News/Marist national poll shows a statistical tie between Harris and Trump, both head to head and in a larger contest that includes minor party and independent candidates. Several