Kamala Harris prepares her response to weak US jobs data

• As Harris prepares response to US-led economic turmoil, new research from Savanta suggests ‘the economy & jobs’ is seen as one of her top three weaknesses
• New findings suggest Harris’ issues profile could be challenge, with areas of strength seen as abortion and social justice, while seen as weaker on immigration, national security and the economy & jobs
• Registered US voters split on whether they think Harris is likely or unlikely to defeat Trump in upcoming Presidential election, as the Democratic candidate chooses VP
• However, Harris is seen as having much better odds at being able to defeat Trump (54%) than Joe Biden (16%), suggesting voters support the President’s choice to step aside.

August 5 – As Kamala Harris prepares her response to weak US jobs data that caused significant economic turmoil, new research from global polling firm Savanta suggests that ‘the economy & jobs’ (38%) is seen as one of her top three perceived weaknesses, potentially stalling her campaign’s momentum.

The new findings from Savanta (7.26 to 7.29) suggest that Harris’ issues profile could well become a challenge in the run up to the election. Her perceived areas of strength among registered voters seen as:

• Abortion (47%)
• Social justice and equality (37%)
• Healthcare (34%)

However, her top three perceived areas of weakness are:

• Immigration (46%)
• National security (42%)
• Economy and jobs (38%)

These findings are likely to be playing into voter’s judgement on whether Harris can beat Donald Trump in November. Registered voters are exactly equally split on whether they think Kamala Harris is likely (NET 42%) or unlikely (NET 42%) to defeat Trump in the upcoming Presidential election, as the Democratic candidate gets ready to choose her Vice-Presidential running mate.

However, Harris is seen as having much better odds at being able to defeat Trump (54%) than Joe Biden (16%), suggesting voters support the President’s choice to step aside.

Three in ten (29%) say their opinion of Harris hasn’t changed, with about the same proportion (32%) saying their view of Harris has got more negative, although this is mainly driven by Republican supporters.

Ethan Granholm, Research Analyst at Savanta says:

“Kamala Harris has clearly had a huge amount of momentum in the days following Biden’s announcement – but voters are still split down the middle on whether she can beat Trump. In an election likely defined by each candidate’s ability to turnout voters, the perception of whether they can win matters.”

“Part of Harris’ challenge is her issue profile – she’s seen as weaker on several issues that will likely define the election, such as immigration and the economy. She is however, most positively linked to reproductive rights, a key Democratic message going into the fall.”

<ENDS>

Notes for editors

Methodology: Savanta interviewed a representative and weighted sample of 2,012 US adults aged 18+ online on July 26-29 2024, across age, gender, race, ethnicity, income, political party and region.

Full tables will be available shortly at savanta.com/knowledge-centre/published-polls/

For further comment, please contact Richard Brooks on [email protected]

All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.