Harris closes gap with Trump on the economy, new Pennsylvania poll shows

WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania voters no longer prefer former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris on the economy in a poll that shows the Democratic presidential nominee all but erasing the deficit on which candidate can best handle the top issue for voters this fall.

In a Quinnipiac University poll of likely Pennsylvania voters released Wednesday, Trump's advantage over Harris was just 50% to 48%, a two-point advantage well within the survey's margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.

The same poll put U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., in a lead over former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, 52% to 43%. That's well outside the margin of error and virtually unchanged from August.

Previous surveys in the Keystone State and elsewhere have given Trump the edge on economic issues. But inflation is close to pre-pandemic levels, more than 16 million jobs have been created under President Joe Biden, unemployment remains low, gasoline prices in Pennsylvania dropped more than 50 cents a gallon in the last year and are below $3 in some other states, and the Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut interest rates by a half-point.

Harris leads Trump by 51% to 46% overall in the most populous swing state, which is likely to decide the next president, according to the poll. With third-party candidates, she's ahead, 51% to 45%. In a pre-convention Quinnipiac poll of likely voters, Harris had 50% and Trump 47%, and with third-party candidates, she led Trump, 48% to 45%.

The poll shows Harris, the first Black woman and first Indian American to run for president on a major party ticket, received 79% of support from Black voters to 11% for Trump, with 6% undecided. Earlier surveys showed Trump polling as high as 18% among Black voters when Biden was the Democratic candidate.

At an interview in Philadelphia Tuesday with members of the National Association of Black Journalists, Harris said that four years ago, the U.S. was in the midst of a pandemic-induced economic downturn. She acknowledged that that prices remained too high but said she was working to get them down.

In the poll, Harris had large leads on other issues: 52% to 45% on which candidate would best preserve democracy and 57% to 38% on abortion. Trump led on immigration, but only by 50% to 48%.

Since replacing Biden atop the Democratic ticket, Harris has closed both the polling gap and enthusiasm gap with Trump. In Wednesday's survey, 70% of likely voters supporting Harris said they were very enthusiastic, while 73% of Trump supporters said they were very enthusiastic about their candidate.

Harris' favorability ratings climbed to positive territory, with 48% viewing her positively and 43% negatively. Trump was viewed unfavorably by 53% and favorably by 44%.

The poll of 1,331 likely Pennsylvania voters was conducted Sept. 12-16.

Harris also led in Michigan, 51% to 46%, or 50% to 45% when third-party candidates are included; and in Wisconsin, 49% to 48%, or 48% to 47% with third party candidates. But all of those leads are within the margins of error.

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