U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris opened up a marginal two-percentage-point lead over Republican Donald Trump after U.S. President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign and passed the torch to her, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
That compares with a marginal two-point deficit Biden faced against Trump in last week's poll before his exit from the race on July 21, Reuters reports.
Harris, whose campaign says she has secured the Democratic nomination, led Trump 44% to 42% in the national poll, a difference within the 3-percentage-point margin of error.
The poll was conducted on July 22-23, after Biden endorsed Harris to succeed him. Some 56% of registered voters agreed with a statement that Harris, 59, was "mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges," compared to 49% who said the same of Trump, 78. Only 22% of voters assessed Biden that way.
Three quarters of Democratic voters said they agreed with a statement that the party and voters should get behind Harris now, with only a quarter saying multiple candidates should compete for the party's nomination, Reuters adds.
The poll, which was conducted online, surveyed 1,241 U.S. adults nationwide, including 1,018 registered voters.
