Harris in ‘striking distance’ of Trump in Florida, pollster says

Vice President Harris is nipping at former President Trump’s heels in his home state of Florida, a pollster from Suffolk University says after a new Sunshine State survey.

The USA Today/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV poll found Harris just 5 points behind Trump among likely Florida voters, 42 percent to 47 percent, just outside the poll’s margin of error.

Florida has a million more registered Republicans than Democrats, and Trump won the state in both 2016 and 2020.

“Given those circumstances, I was surprised that Harris is within striking distance, being only 5 points down,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, told USA Today in a Tuesday report.

Among Florida independents, the vice president leads the former president with 41 percent support to 34 percent, with independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. taking 10 percent.

“This poll seems to indicate that the overwhelming Republican Party registration advantage is partially offset by Kamala Harris winning independents, especially independent women,” Paleologos said in a press release accompanying the survey. “Florida could become more of a battleground state than anyone would have expected, especially given that there will be an abortion rights question (Amendment 4) on the statewide ballot, which could drive up turnout among women.”

Harris has surged in surveys since entering the race last month after President Biden withdrew.

Recent polling from The New York Times/Siena College found Harris ahead of Trump by 4 points in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, three important swing states.

Harris has also pulled ahead of Trump in an average of national polls from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, up 1.4 points over the former president.

The USA Today/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV poll was conducted between Aug. 7 and 11, featuring 500 likely Florida general election voters and a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.