Donald Trump, Kamala Harris locked in close election race: WSJ Poll | 2024 US Election News

Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump are locked in a dead heat race for the presidency in the United States with less than a month to go before the polls, a new Wall Street Journal poll suggests.

According to the data, published on Friday, the vice president and the former president are within two percent of each other in six of the seven states that will decide on the next president.

In the polls, while Harris was leading in the states of Arizona, Georgia and Michigan, Trump was ahead in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Nevada. All results are within the margin of error except for Nevada, where Trump is leading by 5 percentage points in the WSJ poll.

The newspaper said it surveyed 600 registered voters in each state between September 28 and October 8.

US elections are not won by the popular vote across the country. Instead, candidates compete in individual districts to win electoral college votes.

It’s like a point system, where each country costs a number of points in proportion to its population size. In all but two states – Maine and Nebraska – the winner takes all the electoral college votes.

Most states are almost certain to go to one party. For example, Democratic wins in California and Vermont are often revealed as soon as the polls close, while states like Oklahoma and Alabama are Republican strongholds.

The battlefield is

That leaves a handful of states where there are close, competitive elections. These are known as swing states. In this round, all eyes are on the seven states polled by the WSJ.

In 2016, Trump won the presidency despite losing the popular vote because he defeated the Democratic candidate in many battleground states.

According to a Pew Research Center poll released Friday, Harris leads the race nationally by one point — 48 percent to Trump’s 47 percent.

The results of the US election have changed in recent months. While Trump enjoyed a solid lead over Joe Biden earlier this year in nearly every poll, Democrats gained momentum after the US president stepped down and Harris was taken as the party’s nominee.

A Morning Consult poll in September had Harris beating Trump 51 percent to 46 percent. But the former president appeared to be regaining some support amid worries about the economy and unrest in the Middle East.

Voting in US elections has also been very wide in the past. For example, many polls indicated that Clinton was set to win comfortably when she lost to Trump in 2016.

However, this year’s various elections seem to agree that America is headed for the next presidential election next month.

The Senate race

Control of the Senate and House of Representatives will also be taken on November 5.

A New York Times poll on Friday predicted bad news for Democrats’ hopes of securing their Senate majority.

Democrats currently control the 100-member chamber with 51 seats, including four independents who caucus with the party.

But a Times poll found Democrats likely to lose a decisive seat in a Republican-leaning district.

Republicans were expected to flip a Senate seat in West Virginia – where conservative Democratic incumbent Joe Manchin will not run for re-election.

But a Times poll showed Democratic Senator Jon Tester trailing his Republican rival by eight percentage points in rural Montana, where Trump won handily in 2016 and 2020.

Democrats will also fight to retain Senate seats in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arizona and Nevada, but will be hoping to challenge Republican incumbents in Texas and Florida.

The Republican-controlled Senate could be a major obstacle for Harris if he wins in November.

Besides its legislative power, the Senate is tasked with confirming judicial and cabinet appointments, which will allow Republicans to pressure Harris, if elected, on who he chooses for his governing party.