Harris and Trump neck and neck in new Reuters/Ipsos poll
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are neck and neck in the presidential race, according to a new Reuters and Ipsos poll.
The poll, which was completed on Sunday, showed that the vice-president was supported by 43% of registered voters while the former president was supported by 42%.
Last week, a Reuters and Ipsos poll showed that Harris was leading by 44% to Trump’s 42%.
Reuters and Ipsos’s latest poll was conducted among 1,025 adults, including 876 registered voters, from 26 to 28 July.
Key events
Kamala Harris is due to begin speaking shortly at a campaign event in Atlanta.
New York’s highest court heard arguments Tuesday in a Republican challenge of a law that allows any registered voter to cast a mail-in ballot during the early voting period.
The case, which is led by Representative Elise Stefanik and includes other lawmakers and the Republican National Committee, is part of a widespread GOP effort to tighten voting rules after the 2020 election.
Democrats approved the mail voting expansion law last year. The Republican challenge argues that it violates voting provisions in the state Constitution.
The hourlong arguments before the New York Court of Appeals in Albany hinged on technical readings of the Constitution, specifically whether certain passages would allow for the state Legislature to expand mail voting access.
At certain points in the hearing, judges quizzed attorneys on whether a constitutional provision that says eligible voters are entitled to vote “at every election” would mean a physical polling place or simply the election in general.
Michael Y. Hawrylchak, an attorney representing the Republicans, said that provision “presupposes a physical place” for in-person voting. Deputy Solicitor General Jeffrey W. Lang, who is representing the state, said the phrase “just refers to a process of selecting an office holder” and not any physical polling place.
Democrats first tried to expand mail voting through a constitutional amendment in 2021, but voters rejected the proposal after a campaign from conservatives who said it would lead to voter fraud.
Lower courts have dismissed the Republican lawsuit in decisions that said the Legislature has the constitutional authority to make rules on voting and the Constitution doesn’t require voting specifically to occur in person on election day.
It is unclear when the Court of Appeals will rule.
Arizona senator Mark Kelly emerged as one of the early favourites to be Harris’s running mate last week, after being asked to submit personal information in a vice-presidential vetting process:
Asked Sen. Mark Kelly about concerns his selection as VP could open up a Senate seat in a swing state in 2026, and Kelly said he doesn’t think it would be an issue.
“Democrats have been really good about winning statewide races in the state of Arizona. We figured this out. We… pic.twitter.com/6FEVFDLTyF
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 30, 2024
Meanwhile Joe Biden and Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, have jointly urged Venezuelan authorities to release full, transparent and detailed presidential election voting data.
The leaders spoke on the phone earlier today.
Here are some scenes from the Harris campaign rally in Atlanta, via NBC and Kamala HQ:
Sen Raphael Warnock at the Harris rally in Atlanta: Some days I feel bad for Republicans because they have to figure out how to run a criminal against a prosecutor. … The American people are the jury and we are going to get the verdict right and send VP Harris to the WH.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) July 30, 2024
We’re expecting Harris to speak in half an hour’s time, and will bring that to you live.
MSNBC producer Kyle Griffin reports that Harris is preparing to embark on a battleground tour next week. The Harris campaign has said it would name running mate by 7 August.
New on @MSNBC: Vice President Harris and her yet-to-be-named running mate will hit the campaign trail next week on a battleground state tour.
This is the latest indication that her vice presidential selection process is nearing its end.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 30, 2024
Dunn has been a Democratic operative for decades. She worked in President Barack Obama’s White House and on multiple political campaigns. In a statement, she thanked Biden and Harris.
“It’s been an honor and privilege to serve in this White House, with this President and this team, during this transformational term,” she said. “I am grateful to President Biden and Vice President Harris for their leadership and giving me the opportunity to be part of what they have accomplished for the American people.”
The Washington Post was first to report Dunn’s exit.
A source familiar with the decision said she would be helping a super political-action committee that is working to elect Harris.
Biden campaign adviser Anita Dunn to leave White House
Anita Dunn, a longtime adviser to President Joe Biden who oversaw communications strategy and helped steer his 2020 election campaign, is departing the White House to work for a super political-action committee that is supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
Dunn’s departure is the first and only so far among Biden’s senior staff in the aftermath of the president’s disastrous debate against former President Donald Trump last month that sparked a crisis within the Democratic Party and led to his exit from the 2024 race.
Dunn was one of the officials involved in decision-making about the debate; her husband, attorney Bob Bauer, reportedly played Trump in the debate prep sessions.
“Four years ago, when I launched my campaign for the battle for the soul of our nation, I was grateful Anita Dunn was right there with me,” Biden said in a statement on Tuesday.
“I deeply value her counsel and friendship and I will continue to rely on her partnership and insights as we finish the job over the next six months.”
Summary
Hello US politics blog readers, it’s been a lively day and soon Kamala Harris will speak at a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia, as the latest opinion polls show support for her is growing.
We’re handing over to our colleague Helen Sullivan now. She’ll continue to bring you the news developments as they happen, including Kamala Harris’s speech in just under an hour’s time.
-
Kamala Harris has gained ground against Republican presidential rival Donald Trump in six of the seven swing states since Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, according to a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll of registered voters published today.
-
Depending on which poll you read, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are neck and neck in the presidential race. That’s according to a new Reuters and Ipsos poll. The poll, which was completed on Sunday, showed that the vice-president was supported by 43% of registered voters while the former president was supported by 42%.
-
Kamala Harris will not attend the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) conference in Chicago, according to a source familiar with her schedule, citing logistical challenges getting to Chicago days after launching her campaign. Harris is heading to Houston this week to attend the funeral of the late Texas congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee as well as conducting a rapid search for her running mate.
-
Kamala Harris was asked if she had chosen her running mate yet while boarding a plane to Atlanta, Georgia. Harris replied: “Not yet.”
-
Paul Dans, the director of the Heritage Foundation’s 2025 presidential transition project, has stepped down from his role, according to reports. The move comes after pressure from the Trump campaign leadership, and an ongoing power rift over staffing control for a potential second Trump administration, the Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberg writes.
-
The Secret Service’s acting director, Ronald Rowe, has told lawmakers he was “ashamed” by the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Rowe, appearing before a meeting of the Senate judiciary committee and homeland security and governmental affairs committee, said he considered it indefensible that the roof used by the gunman was unsecured, during the former president’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania earlier this month.
-
Donald Trump on Monday repeated his weekend remarks to Christian summit attendees that they would never need to vote again if he returns to the presidency in November. Trump, in an interview with Fox News that aired last night, was asked to explain what he meant when he told a crowd on Friday to “get out and vote, just this time. “That statement is very simple, I said, ‘Vote for me, you’re not gonna have to do it ever again’,” he said.
-
Kamala Harris’s campaign has announced a $50m advertising blitz ahead of the Democratic national convention next month with a television ad that portrays the presumptive Democratic nominee as “fearless”. The 60-second ad will be the first in a series of paid media efforts ahead of the convention, which begins 19 August in Chicago.
-
A Zoom call meant to rally “white dudes” in support of Kamala Harris’s run for the White House raised more than $4m from about 190,000 participants, including numerous celebrities, according to the presumptive Democratic nominee’s campaign. Showing up were a bunch of top Democrats and stars including Jeff Bridges, Mark Hamill, Mark Ruffalo, and others.
Harris gaining ground in some key states – latest poll
Kamala Harris has gained ground against Republican presidential rival Donald Trump in six of the seven swing states since Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, according to a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll of registered voters published today.
The poll – conducted online from 24–28 July – shows Harris leading Trump in Michigan by 11 percentage points, while in Arizona, Wisconsin and Nevada, she has a 2-point advantage, Reuters reports.
Trump is ahead of Harris in Pennsylvania by 4 points and in North Carolina by 2 points. They are on equal footing in Georgia.
Wisconsin is the only state of the seven where Trump has narrowed his deficit with Harris in comparison with Biden’s performance in a previous poll.
Tuesday’s poll has a margin of error of between 3 and 5 points, depending on the state.
In a Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll conducted 1–5 July, Trump was ahead of Biden in Arizona by 3 percentage points; in Georgia by 1 point; in Nevada by 3 points; in North Carolina by 3 points; and in Pennsylvania by 7 points. Biden led in Michigan by 5 points and in Wisconsin by 3 points, the poll showed.
Kamala Harris will announce her vice-presidential pick as early as Monday before embarking on a multistate battleground tour with her new running mate later in the week, two sources familiar with the planning said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
The high-stakes decision on who will run with the current vice-president on her presidential ticket has taken center stage since she became the Democratic frontrunner for the 5 November election.
Harris to announce VP pick as early as Monday – report
Kamala Harris is expected to announce who will be her running mate in her campaign for president as early as Monday, the Reuters news wire is reporting this evening, as an exclusive, citing sources but as yet giving no more detail.
This echoes what Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, said yesterday, that Harris would choose and announce “in the next six, seven days”, as we blogged earlier.
But anything that echoes or strengthens that prediction is fascinating, so we’ll watch closely.
Harris is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president in this election, after Joe Biden withdrew from his re-election campaign nine days ago and anointed Harris as his chosen successor at the top of the ticket.
At this rate, she can expect to be officially voted in as the nominee at the party’s national convention next month, in Chicago.
