Have voters changed their minds about Trump, Harris since the debate? What polls found

More than 67 million people tuned in to the Sept. 10 debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump — but few minds were changed, new data shows.

Recent polls found Harris’ narrow nationwide lead remained relatively steady in the days following the ABC News debate.

The polls also revealed that respondents thought Harris outperformed Trump during the hour and 45 minute war of words.

The debate — the first between the two candidates — is likely to be the last as Trump has said he will not participate in another.

Here is a breakdown of the key findings from three new nationwide polls.

Morning Consult poll

The latest Morning Consult poll found Harris leading Trump among likely voters by six percentage points, 51% to 45%.

Her advantage — a record high — increased by three points from a poll taken before the debate.

Harris’ 51% support was largely driven by unprecedented figures for her from Democrats, women and younger generations.

The poll also found 53% of likely voters view the vice president favorably — marking the highest rating Morning Consult has recorded during this election season. In contrast, 44% of likely voters had a favorable view of Trump.

Additionally, of the likely voters who watched the debate, 61% said Harris won, while 33% said Trump won.

“That 28-point margin in Harris’ favor among debate viewers is equal to the advantage Trump garnered against President Joe Biden in our post-debate survey in late June,” according to Morning Consult.

The latest poll, conducted between Sept. 13 and 15, sampled 11,022 likely voters and has a margin of error of 1 percentage point.

Monmouth University poll

A new poll from Monmouth University in New Jersey found similar results.

Forty-nine percent of registered voter respondents said they will definitely or probably cast their vote for Harris, while 44% said the same for Trump, marking a five-point lead for the vice president.

She held the same lead in an August poll, when she garnered 48% support versus Trump’s 43%.

“In fact, Trump’s support is virtually unchanged from his levels when Biden was in the race from Monmouth polling going back a year,” the poll found.

Additionally, while respondents viewed Harris as the winner of the debate, it largely did not factor into their decision-making.

Among voters who saw the debate, just 3% said it caused them to reconsider their support, while 8% said it raised doubts but didn’t change their mind. Meanwhile, a majority of respondents, 71%, said it didn’t cause any doubts.

The poll, conducted between Sept. 11 and 15, sampled 803 registered voters and has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.

HarrisX/Forbes poll

Lastly, a new HarrisX/Forbes poll found Harris now holds a three-point advantage over Trump, with her garnering 48% support compared with his 45%. Eight percent said they were undecided.

When undecided voters who favor a certain candidate were included, Harris was up by 52% to 48%.

These figures mark a small improvement for Harris from a poll taken on the eve of the debate. That poll found she and Trump were tied with 45% support, while 10% of respondents said they were undecided. Harris held a two-point lead — with 51% versus Trump’s 49% — when undecided voters who favor a candidate were included.

Consistent with other polls, most respondents, 58%, said Harris beat Trump in the debate.

Further, 60% of undecided voters said that, during the debate, Trump provided little or no information regarding his plan to tackle inflation. Sixty-five percent of undecideds said the same concerning his economic agenda.

Meanwhile, 58% of undecided voters said Harris provided little or no information about her plans for combating inflation, and 59% said the same about the vice president’s economic agenda.

Conducted between Sept. 11 and 13, the poll sampled 3,018 registered voters and has a margin of error of 1.8 percentage points.

This story was originally published September 17, 2024 at 1:39 PM with the headline "Have voters changed their minds about Trump, Harris since the debate? What polls found."