Kamala Harris: US Presidential Election 2024: Harris has a slight edge; Economy and future of American democracy emerge as key issues, according to this survey

A week is a long period of time in politics. This is what the Democrats have experienced ever since President Joe Biden decided to end his election campaign. Vice-President Kamala Harris who has secured the support of the required number of delegates is all set to receive the presidential nomination from the party during the national convention from August 19-22.A survey conducted by the Angus Reid Institute has found that overall, Harris has a two percent lead over her opponent. Different sections of the voters support different candidates and the issues are plenty including security, economy, cost of living and various foreign policy related issues. The upcoming presidential election in November is being seen as the most important election in the country’s history with 82% of the registered voters who were surveyed believing in the same.

Support base:

Overall, 44% of the registered voters have extended their support to Harris and 42% of them support Trump. Harris has a marginal lead of over 2%.

The young, non-white voters prefer Kamala Harris whereas the white male voters prefer to support Donald Trump. Among the non-white voters, Harris has a clear advantage with over 56% of the respondents reposing their faith in her, in comparison to only 25% of them extending their support to Trump.

The same outcomes are seen among voters who are below 35-years of age with half of the voters (50%) supporting Harris and only 32% of them supporting Trump.

For Trump, while he is lagging behind in terms of support from the non-white and voters below the age of 35, he leads among the White voters with 51% of them supporting him in comparison to only 37% extending their support to Harris.

Both the candidates are tied when it comes to support from those in the age group of 35-54. For the voters who are aged above 55, Trump has a clear 9% lead over Harris with 49% of them supporting him and only 40% of them supporting Harris.

Key issues:

The Democrats are fighting this upcoming election on issues such as saving democracy, reproductive rights and importance of climate change whereas the Republicans under Trump are fighting the election on issues pertaining to a muscular foreign policy, economy related issues and curbing immigration from the southern border.

On the issue of security at the southern border, an overwhelming 52% of the respondents believe that Trump will do a better job in comparison to Harris. Similarly, the same has been recorded on the issues of foreign policy and economic revival.

Whereas on the issue of climate change, protection of democracy and reproductive rights, Harris performs better. For example, on the issue of protecting reproductive rights, 55% of the respondents said that Harris is expected to perform better as compared to Trump.

Sample size of the survey:

The survey was conducted among 1743 registered American voters who are part of the Angus Reid Forum USA and this survey was conducted from July 23-25, 2024.

FAQs

Do the Americans support mass deportation of illegal immigrants?
According to this survey, 21% of Harris voters and 87% of Trump supporters support the mass deportation of illegal immigrants. This signifies that Harris cannot afford to ignore this issue as 21% of her voters have an important say on this matter. She will have to speak on this issue and formulate a policy which is neither extreme nor what is viewed as appeasing to a section of the electorate.

What are the top three issues the voters will be deciding when they vote for the candidate of their choice?
72% of the voters believe that the economy is the most important issues. The other key issues are the future of American Democracy (69%) and inflation (68%).

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