US Presidential Election: Trump and Harris are level pegging in three key states

With another poll in, it seems the 2024 US presidential election between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is shaping up to be one of the closest races in recent times.

A new statewide survey, conducted by Marist College, shows both candidates locked in a dead heat in three key battleground states, according to Fox News. The Marist poll, released on Thursday, found Trump and Harris tied at 49% among likely voters in North Carolina, with 91% of those surveyed expressing strong confidence in their respective choices.

Georgia and Arizona are also seeing similarly tight races, with polls showing Trump leading Harris by a narrow margin of 50%-49% -- a mere one-point lead.

These numbers were derived from the five-day-long polls that surveyed 4,643 voters across the three states and noted that they were sure to vote this year.

Notably, across these three states, a total of 48 electoral votes are there for the taking. Trump, in 2016, won all three states against Hillary Clinton. But in 2020, he lost Arizona and Georgia to President Joe Biden.

On the other hand, North Carolina is a swing state that Trump has emerged victorious in twice. The state has an incumbent Democratic governor and is considered more competitive this year as the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Mark Robinson, has been doused in controversy and scandal over allegedly posting questionable material on a porn website. Unsurprisingly, Robinson is polling poorly against his opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein.

"North Carolina, with its 16 electoral votes, is both the Harris and Trump campaigns' backup plan after the hard-fought battle over Pennsylvania," said Dr. Lee M Miringoff, Director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. "North Carolina is so close that the five regions in the state line up now almost exactly as they did four years ago. It's as if the Biden years and the 2024 campaign haven’t happened."

Both candidates are tied in North Carolina at 48%, while the top issues in the state have been narrowed down to inflation, preserving democracy, immigration and abortion.