GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — New polling suggests Republican candidate former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, are neck and neck, highlighting the importance of Michigan in the upcoming presidential election.
Trump leads Harris with 46% percent of voters to her 45% with 9% of the state identifying as an "Undecided" voter, according to polling from Emerson College/ The Hill.
The poll also included other highly contested swing states and their polling numbers:
- Arizona: Trump leads 49% to 44%
- Georgia: Trump leads 48% to 46%
- Pennsylvania: Trump leads 48% to 46%
- Wisconsin: Harris and Trump both tied at 47%
With a margin of error at +/- 3.4%, each state is seeing a statistical dead heat in polling numbers.
Michigan holds the largest number of undecided voters of the five swing states identified at 9%- underscoring Michigan's battleground nature.
Both candidates have expressed interest in winning over Michigan voters. Just last week, both the former President and current Vice President held events in West Michigan, starting with Harris' July 17 Biden campaign event in Kalamazoo and ending with Trump's July 20 rally in Grand Rapids.
Polling numbers suggest that since President Joe Biden's exit from the 2024 race, Harris has captured the President's voters, even gaining more than previously recorded. Harris has surpassed Biden's voter percentages recorded earlier this month in all five major swing states listed, including in Michigan.
Raising Biden by 4% in Arizona, 5% in Georgia, 3% in Pennsylvania, 4% in Wisconsin and by 3% in Michigan.
“Harris has recovered a portion of the vote for the Democrats on the presidential ticket since the fallout after the June 27 debate,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Harris’ numbers now reflect similar support levels to those of Biden back in March.”
The now Harris Campaign is back in West Michigan Thursday further pushing for her nomination in a press conference with prominent Michigan legislators.
Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, Rep. Rachel Hood and Rep. Kristen Grant, all Democrat lawmakers from Grand Rapids, will be joining Reproductive Freedom for All's Tessa Gawrylowicz for the first Harris for President event in the state.
The event focused on supporting the current Vice President, commending Harris on her time alongside President Joe Biden.
"She spent the past three and a half years working hand in hand with Joe Biden to pass and implement policies that supercharged our economy and uplifted millions of working people," Senate Majority leader Winnie Brinks said.
The speakers also criticized Trump and his running mate JD Vance for their views on reproductive rights and the former president's alleged involvement in the controversial Project 2025- a set of policies for the next conservative president written by the Heritage Foundation.
"It would give MAGA extremists control of our lives, our personal, bodily autonomy and more and they would plan to make Trump and his friends even richer," Rep. Rachel Hood, (D) District 81, said.
Michigan GOP leaders disagree. House Republican leader Matt Hall said it's only a matter of time before Harris' voter percentages begin to fall.
"I think not everyone knows about Kamala Harris yet," Hall said. "The only assignment that she's been given as vice president is to be the border czar. That has been a failure."
Hall criticized the Vice President for her role in Biden's presidency- arguing against her views on the border and aspects of the economy.
"Inflation has exploded under them, causing grocery prices to go up, causing, you know, cost of living to go up," Hall said. "Trump is well defined. I think as the race goes through, he'll have the opportunity to define Kamala Harris, and the more people learn about her, I think her numbers will go down, and we'll look much closer to what Biden's were when he dropped out