KEY POINTS

  • Polls by the Des Moines Register in Iowa and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in Georgia give each candidate 47% of the vote
  • A Michigan poll gave Biden a 5-point lead
  • A Vermont Public Radio poll has Biden ahead by 24 points, while Hillary Clinton won that state by 26% in 2016

Polls indicated dead heats Tuesday between President Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden in Iowa and Georgia while Biden led in Vermont by a whopping 24 points and in Michigan by 5. The RealClearPolitics average of recent polls gives Trump a 1.4-point edge in the presidential sweepstakes.

With just 42 days to go before the election, a Des Moines Register poll, conducted Sept. 14-17 among 658 likely voters, indicated 47% of voters support each candidate with 4% saying they would vote for someone else. That leaves 3% still unsure with early voting set to begin Oct. 5.

Trump carried Iowa by 9 points in 2016.

More men than women support Trump while more women than men support Biden. Trump leads by 21 points among Iowa men while Biden leads by 20 points among women. In 2016, Trump won by male vote by 28 points and Hillary won the female vote by just 7 points, CNN exit polling indicated.

“If Biden wins, it’s because women are steering the ship,” J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., the firm that conducted the poll, told the Register.

In Georgia, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution/University of Georgia poll also indicated 47% support for both Biden and Trump, with 1% backing Libertarian Jo Jorgensen and 4% undecided. The Sept. 11-20 poll of 1,150 likely voters indicated Biden has the support of 30% of white voters, compared to 21% for Clinton in 2016 but 8% of Black votes remain undecided. Among his core constituency, Trump enjoys 96% support while Biden leads 43% to 30% among independents.

Forty-eight percent of those queried said they approved of Trump’s job performance.

Trump carried Georgia by 5 points in 2016.

The MRG poll of 600 likely Michigan voters Sept. 14-19 indicated 46% favor Biden compared to 41% siding with Trump, indicating a 2-point gain for Biden compared with a March poll.

“While the president’s numbers have remained unchanged over the past six months, the former vice president has improved by bringing together Democrat voters for the general election,” MRG owner Jenell Leonard said in a press release. “Both candidates enjoy support from their party bases in the low 90s, and will now be looking to win the support of undecided and third-party voters.”

Leonard added: “Our polling shows there is a significant number of undecided voters who can still be won. How candidates perform in their eyes managing the continued concerns surrounding COVID-19 and the nomination of a new Supreme Court Justice could go a long way toward their chances in November.”

Trump carried Michigan by 0.3 point in 2016.

The Vermont Public Radio poll of 604 voters Sept. 3-15 indicated just 32% support for Trump and 56% for Biden, with 6% voting for someone else, 2% supporting no one and 3% undecided. Twenty-four percent of Trump supporters said they are voting for him because they oppose Biden. Among Biden voters, 63% said they support the candidate because they oppose Trump.

Clinton carried Vermont by more than 26 points in 2016.