Monmouth Poll: Dems Energized by Harris Pick

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A new poll finds a surge in enthusiasm among Democrats since Kamala Harris took over the top of the ticket last month.

Voter support for the vice president is slightly higher than it was for President Joe Biden, while the number of voters who support former president Donald Trump remained steady, according to the latest national Monmouth University Poll, published Wednesday.

Enthusiasm for a Trump-Biden rematch never topped 50%; but now that Harris is the nominee, voter enthusiasm has risen to 68%, the poll finds.

The increase is widest among Democrats, from 46% in June to 85% now; but the poll also found a jump in enthusiasm among independents, from 34% to 53%. Republican enthusiasm for the Trump-Harris contest is identical to June’s result of 71%.

Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute said in the poll report, “This is clearly a different ballgame. The nominee change has raised the ceiling for potential Democratic support in the presidential contest by a small but crucial amount, at least for now.”

The number of “double haters” — voters who dislike both candidates — has dropped since Harris became the nominee. The poll found 8% of voters don’t have favorable views of Harris or Trump, versus 17% who said they didn’t have favorable opinions of either candidate when Biden was running.

Voters have more confidence in Harris’ ability to carry out presidential duties than they did for Biden. The poll shows 57% of voters are at least somewhat confident Harris can do the job, while only 32% felt the same about Biden in an earlier poll.

Confidence in Trump’s ability dropped slightly from 51% in February to 47% now.

However, the poll finds both candidates underwater in favorability, with Harris at 48% favorable and 50% unfavorable, and Trump at 43% favorable and 56% unfavorable.

The Monmouth University Poll was conducted from Aug. 8-12 with 801 registered voters. The margin of error is +/- 4.0 percentage points. It was conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, New Jersey.