Harris’ lead is increasing now.
Bickerton ’24 [James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is covering U.S. politics and world politics. He has covered the intersection between politics and emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence, 07-24-24, Newspeak, Kamala Harris' Chances of Winning Election Are Increasing”, https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-chances-winning-election-are-increasing-1929485] CGO-KS
The odds of Vice President Kamala Harris being elected as president in November improved noticeably over the past 24 hours according to a number of leading bookmakers, following the publication of a poll putting her two points ahead of Republican candidate Donald Trump in a straight matchup.
On Tuesday morning, betting companies Bet365 and William Hill were offering odds of 7/4 (36.4 percent) on Harris being elected to the White House this year, but this has since been cut to 6/4 (40 percent) for the former and 11/8 (42.1 percent) for the latter as of 5 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Over the same period, the odds of Harris winning in November went from 13/8 (38.1 percent) to 11/8 (42.1 percent) according to Sky Bet, another leading bookmaker.
Harris emerged as the clear favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination after President Biden announced he was dropping out of the 2024 contest on July 21 and endorsed his vice president. The move came after intense focus on the age and cognitive ability of the 81-year-old president following his debate with Trump on June 27, where at several points Biden appeared to lose his train of thought mid-sentence.
Tuesday evening saw the publication of a major Ipsos/Reuters poll suggesting Harris is now ahead of Trump in the presidential contest, either in a head-to-head or with independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. included. In a straight matchup, the survey of 1,018 registered voters put Harris on 44 percent against 42 percent for Trump. When Kennedy was included, Harris's lead extended to four points, with the Democrat on 42 percent against 38 percent for Trump and eight percent for the independent. The survey was conducted on July 22 and 23.
In his endorsement of Harris on Sunday, Biden said: "My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it's been the best decision I've made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it's time to come together and beat Trump. Let's do this."