More voters are now undecided after President Biden decided not to run for reelection, according to an NPR/PBS News/Marist survey. Vice President Harris has a brief opportunity to win them over.
The 2024 presidential campaign has hit a reset with more voters moving into the undecided camp now that Kamala Harris is potentially the Democratic nominee, a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll finds.
Harris and former President Donald Trump are statistically tied, but 1 in 5 independents, including almost 3 in 10 independent women, now say they are undecided. So these next few weeks will be vital for Harris to reintroduce herself before views solidify.
The survey also found that Democrats are feeling better about their chances now, and Black voters, in particular, say they are more fired up to vote.
But both Harris and Trump have work to do with key voting groups, from younger and nonwhite voters for Trump; and independents, suburban and white voters overall for Harris.
As for Biden’s decision to step aside in the presidential race, Americans overwhelmingly agree with his choice, and two-thirds think he should serve out his term in office and not resign.
In a head-to-head matchup, Trump gets 46%, while Harris is at 45%, with 9% undecided. In Marist’s survey earlier this month, just 2% were undecided between Trump and Biden. The poll of 1,309 adults was conducted Monday via online research panels. It has a +/- 3.2 percentage point margin of error, meaning results could be roughly 3 points higher or lower.
In a five-way contest, Trump and Harris each get 42%, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pulls in 7%, the lowest since Marist has been testing him since April, and independent Cornel West and the Green Party’s Jill Stein get just 1%.
Notably, Harris holds onto Gen Z/Millennial voters and nonwhite voters more so than Biden was able to when the contest moves from a head-to-head with Trump to one with third-party choices. Earlier this month, Biden declined 13 points with those younger voters and 10 points with nonwhite voters. Harris, on the other hand, largely retains her support with those groups.
