A pair of national telephone and online surveys conducted recently by the veteran Rasmussen polling firm had some good news for Donald Trump and down-ballot Republican candidates as the race for president tightens, thanks in part to the traditional bounce candidates get around the time of their party’s national convention.
Rasmussen reported Thursday that in a two-way match-up between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the former president got 49 percent favorability against Harris’ 46 percent. In a six-way matchup, with Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, Libertarian Chase Oliver, and independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornell West – Trump still garners 47% to 45% for Harris.
According to Rasmussen, “Trump continues to lead by a substantial margin among Independents. In a two-way matchup between Trump and Harris, 82% of Republicans would vote for Trump, while 81% of Democrats would vote for Harris. Among voters unaffiliated with either major party, 51% favor Trump, while 40% prefer Harris. In a six-way matchup, Trump’s advantage among independents shrinks to nine points, with seven percent (7%) of unaffiliated voters going for RFK Jr.”
But this survey was conducted prior to reports that Kennedy was planning to bow our and possibly throw his endorsement to Trump.
Meanwhile, a separate Rasmussen poll showed that if congressional elections were held now, 48 percent of likely voters would vote for the Republican candidate while 43 percent would support the Democrat.
As explained by Rasmussen Reports, “The GOP’s advantage is unchanged since May, when they also led by five points – 47% to 42% – over Democrats. Two years ago, in August 2022, Republicans also had a five-point lead on the generic congressional ballot. In the final poll before Election Day 2022, Republicans held a five-point lead, and scored a net gain of nine seats to capture a 222-213 House majority.”
Rasmussen’s congressional survey also found that 83 percent of Republicans would vote for their own party’s congressional candidate if the election were held now while 85 percent of Democrats would vote for the Democratic candidate.
“Among voters not affiliated with either major party Rasmussen said, “50 percent would vote Republican and 31 percent would vote Democrat, while 12 percent say they’d vote for some other candidate and seven percent (7%) are undecided.”
All of this data may make a difference, or perhaps not. What is apparent is that voters must turn out on election day to cast their ballots. Apathy often times keeps voters at home. Gun owners, wary of Harris’ history as a gun prohibitionist, are encouraging friends and family to update their voter registrations.
