Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are heading toward the finish line in a dead heat, according to several recent polls of swing state voters.
The presidential candidates were polling even in Pennsylvania and Michigan in less-than-a-week-out temperature checks from CNN and USA Today.
CNN's heat check found that Harris had a slight advantage over Trump in Wisconsin and Michigan. Harris snagged 48% of likely voters to Trump's 43% in the Michigan poll. The gap between the two candidates is close to the poll's margin of error (4.7 percentage points). Harris' lead was a little more comfortable in Wisconsin, where she grabbed a slim majority of likely voters (51%) to Trump's 45%.
The news network found that the candidates were tied in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, with both candidates garnering 48% of likely voters.
USA Today's outlook in the key battleground state of Michigan differed slightly from CNN's read, but still found the formerly reliable Democratic state to be in play. Their poll found that the candidates were tied in the state with 47% of likely voters pulling the lever for both Harris and Trump.
While these swing states are nearly always critical in presidential elections, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania have particular significance for former President Trump. When he took the White House in 2016, all three states swung his way. When Trump was mollywhopped in 2020 by the campaign of President Joe Biden, all three states swung back to the Democratic candidate.
Nearly all polls in recent weeks have found the vice president and Trump failing to force any daylight between their likely voters in deciding states. Still, CNN's own analyst Harry Enten thinks that polls might be undercounting the support of Harris, saying the Democratic nominee is "underestimated by the polls."
