Vice President Harris and New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich (D) hold significant leads over their Republican opponents in the blue-leaning state that the GOP had expressed some optimism about when President Biden was still in the race, according to a new poll.
The survey from Emerson College Polling/The Hill released Friday showed Harris leading former President Trump by 10 points, 52 percent to 42 percent, with 6 percent undecided. In a race including third-party candidates, Harris’s lead expands to 11 points, 51 percent to 40 percent, with 3 percent for independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In the Senate race, Heinrich has a similarly strong lead against Republican Nella Domenici of 12 points, 49 percent to 37 percent, with 4 percent preferring another candidate and 9 percent undecided.
The results are good news for Democrats just over a month after Republicans were eying more traditionally Democratic-leaning states like New Mexico as Biden was reeling from his poor debate performance in late June and began slipping in the polls.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) expressed concerns about Biden’s ability to win her state during a meeting the president held with Democratic governors last month in the aftermath of the debate.
But the numbers from the Emerson poll suggest New Mexico, like other ideologically similar states, is moving more comfortably back into the Democrats’ column.
Emerson College Polling Executive Director Spencer Kimball noted in a release that Harris’s lead is similar to the 10.8-point margin that Biden carried the state by in 2020.
She leads among independents by 9 points, 48 percent to 37 percent, and among women by 17 points, 55 percent to 38 percent.
Pollsters found the economy was the top-rated issue facing the state, with 29 percent saying so, followed by crime with 18 percent and immigration with 13 percent.
“Voters who find the economy to be the top issue break for Trump, 54% to 38%, crime, 47% to 45%, and immigration 89% to 9%. Voters who find education, healthcare, housing affordability, threats to democracy, and abortion all break for Harris significantly, an average of 82% to 15%,” Kimball said.
Trump leads overwhelmingly among voters whose most important issue is immigration, but on the question of who voters trust more to handle immigration in the state, Harris leads by 2 points, 48 percent to 46 percent.
The poll was conducted from Aug. 20 to 22 among 965 registered voters. The margin of error was 3.1 points.
