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The end of summer is a new beginning for the presidential race and the latest polls indicate Vice President Kamala Harris has made dramatic gains in the battle for the White House against former President Donald Trump.
As pools opened at the start of summer, Democrats were underwater in the polls, with President Joe Biden trailing nationally as well as in key battleground states.
For the first time this week, the new Democratic nominee, Harris, is leading Trump in some major polls, though they remain in a virtual dead heat in many of the states that could determine who gets elected.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll has Harris leading Trump 45% to 41%.
The poll, which has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2%, indicates that Harris continues to pick up support among women and the Hispanic population.
A USA Today/Suffolk University poll has Harris leading Trump 48% to 43%. The survey has similar trends to the Reuters/Ipsos poll and suggests growing support among young and Black voters.
The poll has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4%.
The polls illustrate a significant shift that’s taken place in just a matter of weeks, since Biden said he would step aside and back Harris on July 21.
Many Democrats were distraught after Biden’s disastrous performance in the first debate at the end of June.
The president tried to regroup, but Democratic leaders — including key members of Congress like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — felt a change was needed if the party was to have any chance of defeating Trump.
For all the latest developments in Congress, follow WTOP Capitol Hill Correspondent Mitchell Miller at Today on the Hill.
Trump, after surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, was riding the high after the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month. But Harris appears to have received a post-convention bump since the Democratic National Convention this month in Chicago.
Races remain tight in key states
The election will be decided in just a handful of battleground states, but the new polls suggest that Harris has broader paths to an Electoral College victory than Biden would have.
Fox News polling indicates that Harris and Trump are in virtual dead heats in several Sun Belt states.
Harris leads Trump 50% to 48% in Georgia and by the same margin in Nevada. Harris leads Trump 50% to 49% in Arizona, but Trump leads Harris 50% to 49% in North Carolina.
When Biden was the nominee, he trailed Trump in all of those states by at least 5 percentage points.
The Harris campaign now believes Georgia is much more in play, which is why she and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz embarked on a bus tour in the Peach State this week.
Trump and his running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, have been campaigning heavily this week in the battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Harris and President Biden will be in Pittsburgh on Labor Day — their first joint event since Harris accepted the Democratic nomination.
Labor Day has been a traditional kickoff for the fall campaign, but this election is anything but traditional.
The campaign completely turned around earlier this summer after the June presidential debate, opening the way for Harris to make what’s been an unprecedented quick shift to representing her party in the run for the White House.
The two presidential candidates are now looking ahead to a Sept. 10 debate in Philadelphia, which will be broadcast by ABC News.
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