Harris picks up ‘double haters’ as Democratic enthusiasm jumps: Poll

Vice President Harris is gaining momentum among voters who disliked both President Biden and former President Trump, according to a new poll.

The new Monmouth University poll found the number of “double haters”— voters who dislike both candidates — has been cut in half since Harris joined the race. The poll found 8 percent of voters do not have favorable views of either Harris or Trump, while 17 percent said they did not have favorable views of either Biden or Trump.

A poll in June found that 54 percent of the double haters who had unfavorable views of Biden and Trump would not support either candidate, while 28 percent said they would support Biden and 19 percent said they would back Trump.

However, the new poll found that Harris now has 53 percent of the vote among these Biden-Trump double haters. Eleven percent of those who disliked Biden and Trump said they would vote for the former president, while 35 percent said they would back neither candidate.

“Taking Biden out of the mix and replacing him with Harris has significantly altered a key metric in this race. As we reported last month, Trump-Biden double haters want to shake things up, but they are wary of change that is too authoritarian. Harris appears to provide most of this group with the fresh outlook they desire,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, in the poll report.

The poll also showed a jump in voter enthusiasm for the presidential contest with Harris in the race, especially among Democrats. Voter enthusiasm jumped from 48 percent in June for a Trump-Biden rematch to 68 percent in July with a match-up between Trump and Harris, according to the poll.

Monmouth noted that the biggest jump in enthusiasm was among Democrats. With Biden as the presumptive nominee in June, 46 percent of Democrats said they were enthusiastic about the Trump-Biden rematch. The new poll now shows 85 percent of Democrats who are enthusiastic about a Trump-Harris match-up.

Democrats are also more excited about their nominee than they were in February. Ninety-two percent of Democrats said in July they are enthusiastic about their party’s nominee, while 62 percent said the same in February.

The poll also found that 48 percent of registered voters said they will definitely or probably vote for Harris, while 43 percent said the same of Trump.

Harris has gained momentum across national and swing-state polling since launching her campaign last month. According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s national polling average, Harris has a 1.6 percentage point lead over Trump based on 115 polls.

The Monmouth University poll was conducted among 801 voters Thursday through Monday and has a margin of sampling error of 4 percentage points.