Vice President Harris is seeing a surge in enthusiasm among women on the economy, a top issue for voters ahead of November, according to a new survey released this week.
The poll, conducted by American University (AU) and the Benenson Strategy Group, found that 51 percent of women trust Harris to address inflation, as well as the high cost of gas and groceries. Some 37 percent said the same of her GOP rival, former President Trump.
The Democratic nominee has the upper hand on handling the economy, with 46 percent trusting Harris over Trump who garnered 38 percent support, according to the survey.
The Democratic ticket was also trusted more on immigration, another key issue with the election just under a month away. Around 44 percent said they trust Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) to address the border, while 40 percent favored the former president, pollsters found.
The poll also shows that Harris’s favorability among independent women has gone up by 23 percent since last year. Around 51 percent found her favorable, while 38 percent said the opposite. The former president garnered a 34 percent favorability rating in the survey, while 57 percent of respondents found him unfavorable.
Some recent polls have shown Harris, who replaced President Biden as the Democratic nominee in late July, gaining steam on the economy. She trailed Trump by 3 percentage points on the issue in a Marist poll and had a 5-point deficit in a Fox News poll.
The survey found the economy and inflation were the most important issue for women in the 2024 White House race at 64 percent. Second was abortion at 34 percent and in third place was immigration at 32 percent.
Nationally, Harris has a 3.7 percent lead over Trump, 49.9 percent to 46.2 percent, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s polling index.
The AU poll was conducted Sept. 20-24 among 829 women who are registered voters. The margin of error was 3.4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
