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By Alia Shoaib
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Kamala Harris is within striking distance of Donald Trump in Florida ahead of the presidential election in November, according to a new poll.
The survey, conducted by Victory Insights, shows that Trump is leading Harris in Florida by around 2 percentage points, which is within the poll's margin of error of +/- 4.4 percent.
The findings showed that 46.9 percent of respondents said they would vote for Trump, 44.9 percent would back Harris, and 8.2 percent reported being undecided. The poll was conducted between September 22 to 25 and surveyed 600 likely general election voters in Florida.
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Victory Insights notes that the once competitive swing state of Florida has become increasingly Republican in recent years.
"For many years, Florida was considered one of the most important swing states in the country. In recent years, however, Florida has morphed into more and more of a red state, and Republicans' registration advantage in the state has been ever increasing," Victory Insights' senior pollster Ben Galbraith wrote.
"In 2024, many people are wondering: do Democrats even have a shot to win Florida? Our polling suggests that it's not outside the realm of possibility. In fact, both the presidential and US Senate races are well within the poll's margin of error."
In an emailed response to Newsweek, Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, said: "Anyone who thinks Kamala Harris has a chance in Florida is clearly suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and needs to get checked out."
Newsweek reached out to the Harris campaign for comment via email.
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The survey also asked likely voters about the favorability of the two presidential candidates. It found that 46.1 percent of respondents viewed Trump favorably, while 42.2 percent viewed Harris favorably. It also showed that Trump rated higher than Harris in terms of both enthusiasm from his supporters and hatred from his detractors.
Harris winning Florida would be a major upset, given that Democrats have won only five presidential elections in Florida since 1952. The state has also become increasingly reliably Republican under Ron DeSantis's governorship.
However, with issues like abortion on the ballot this year, Democrats are increasingly optimistic about their chances.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Jamie Harrison previously said that he believes the party thinks it "has a shot" at taking Florida, telling reporters earlier this month: "I keep saying folks, they're going to be surprised on election night about what happens in the state, that you can't give up on Florida."
The Florida poll also shows incumbent Senator Rick Scott only marginally ahead of his Democratic challenger, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, 44.6 percent to 43.8 percent.
Democrats have been targeting Florida as a seat to flip as they seek to hold on to their narrow majority in the Senate, spending millions on TV ads in the state in the effort to unseat Scott.
Update 9/30/24, 10:53 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Steven Cheung.
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