Campaign

Majority of Democrats in new survey support Harris atop ticket

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Nearly 8 in 10 Democrats said they would be satisfied with Vice President Harris as their party’s nominee, according to a new survey.

The latest poll from The Associated Press/NORC Research Center found that 79 percent of Democrats support Harris atop the ticket. This is a significant increase in satisfaction for the leading Democratic candidate within the party after President Biden withdrew from the race last week and endorsed her.

The AP noted a separate poll, taken before Biden stepped aside but after his disastrous debate with former President Trump last month, found only about 4 in 10 Democrats were satisfied with the incumbent as the nominee.

The most recent poll found that while an overwhelming majority of Democrats said they are satisfied with Harris, a smaller share of respondents seem confident Harris can beat Trump in November compared to Republicans who believe the former president will win.

Roughly 88 percent of Republican respondents said Trump is more likely to win November’s election, while 10 percent said Harris will. In contrast, 71 percent of Democrats said Harris will prevail, while 28 percent said the former president will win.

Overall, 56 percent of adults believe Trump is more likely to win the election, compared to 42 percent who said Harris is.

Adults were split when asked if Harris would be a good president, with 42 percent saying she would be and 42 percent saying she would not be. Another 10 percent said they did not know enough to answer.

On the other hand, 38 percent said Trump would be a good president, and 56 percent said he would not, with another 5 percent saying they did not know enough.

Overall, 76 percent of adults approved of Biden withdrawing from the race, including 72 percent of Republicans and 83 percent of Democrats. Republicans were less supportive of the president endorsing Harris for the nomination, however, with 15 percent of Republicans on board compared to 80 percent of Democrats.

The AP/NORC poll was conducted among 1,141 adults from Thursday to Monday and has a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points.