Majority of independent voters support Trump as Harris momentum seemingly cools off, poll shows

The race for the White House is as close and intense as ever, as Vice President Harris and former President Trump desperately fight to win the support of undecided voters. But as the election quickly nears, being less than two months away, it seems another group— independent voters— have largely made up their minds as to who they will cast their ballots for in November.

A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found Trump holding an advantage among this group. The study was conducted among 1,529 U.S. adults between Sept. 3-5 through phone and text interviews, and online surveys. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

According to the study, 49% of independent respondents said they are supporting or leaning toward Trump, while 46% said the same for Harris. Three percent said they're backing a third-party candidate, and 2% said they're undecided.

These figures show a stark contrast from the year prior, when Harris held an 11-point lead over Trump with independents, at 48% to the former president's 37%.

One of the reasons for the dramatic change could be Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspending his campaign and formally endorsing Trump, since in the August poll, the independent candidate was backed by 12% of independent and other third party candidates received 2% support.

In August, Harris also likely enjoyed continued momentum with voters, having only been in the presidential race since mid-July, the Miami Herald reports.

But independent voters are not the only group in which the GOP nominee has drastically gained ground.

The new poll shows that Trump has seen a significant increase in support among Latino voters since August, erasing Harris' lead among the demographic. In the latest poll, 51% of Latino voters said they support the former president, while 47% said the same for Harris.

By comparison, Harris held a 15-point edge over Trump with Latino voters in August.

But one demographic the Vice President continues to comfortably lead with is women, as the Marist poll showed there is a large gender gap in the support for the two candidates. As of September, Harris led among women by 15 points and Trump ahead among men by 12 points.

The poll was conducted days before Harris and Trump met for the first time during the first presidential debate after President Biden dropped out of the race. Although it remains to be seen how each of the candidates' performance will affect national polls, Harris may see a bump in her numbers, as the majority of viewers think she carried herself better during the conversation, according to CNN.

Trump and Harris are virtually tied in national polls. In fact, in the latest national poll among likely voters by The New York Times and Siena College, Trump is slightly leading Harris, 48% to 47%, within the poll's three-percentage-point margin of error.