Harris leads Trump by 3 in Michigan, sees jump in Black support: Poll

Vice President Harris leads her rival, former President Trump, by 3 points in the battleground state of Michigan and saw a jump in support from Black voters with less than a week before Election Day, according to a new poll that was released Friday. 

The new survey, done by EPIC-MRA for The Detroit Free Press, found Harris ahead by 3 points, 48 percent to 45 percent, in the swing state of Michigan. Green Party candidate Jill Stein and former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got 3 percent each. Independent White House candidate Cornel West received 1 percent support. Harris’s lead was within the poll’s margin of error. 

Trump had a slightly higher favorability rating, getting 47 percent to Harris’s 45 percent, according to the survey. 

The Democratic nominee’s support among Black voters had gone up by 18 points since August, with the poll showing her outpacing Trump 87 percent to 5 percent among that demographic. Trump led the way with white voters in Michigan, getting 50 percent to the vice president’s 44 percent. 

The Republican nominee garnered a 6-point lead with men, 48 percent to 42 percent, while Harris had a double-digit advantage with women, 53 percent to 42 percent, according to the survey. 

Inflation and the cost of living were the main topics motivating the poll’s respondents to vote. Around 45 percent said they thought Harris was in better shape to tackle the issue while 49 percent sided with Trump. 

Approximately 18 percent said abortion was their top issue, some 12 percent said immigration was their top issue and 10 percent stated that either candidate’s fitness for the Oval Office was their top position, according to the poll. 

Poll respondents trusted Trump more on ending the Ukraine-Russia war, 53 percent to 39 percent; tackling the U.S.-Mexico border, 59 percent to 36 percent; and de-escalating the conflict in the Middle East, 48 percent to 36 percent. Harris faired better on abortion, 64 percent to 23 percent; and protecting Social Security and Medicare, 52 percent to 39 percent, according to the poll. 

Michigan is a key swing state in the election and polls have generally shown a tight race.

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll that was released Wednesday had both major party candidates tied at 47 percent in Michigan. Harris was ahead by 5 points in the recent Susquehanna Polling and Research survey. 

The Democratic nominee has a 0.5 percent lead, 48.6 percent to 48.1 percent, in Michigan, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s aggregate of polls. 

The EPIC-MRA poll was conducted between Oct. 24-28 among 600 likely voters. The margin of error was 4 points.