Trump leads Harris by 16 points; between 12 and 73 percent of Harris voters disapprove of her views

More than a 16-point spread separates the two major candidates for president, according to the latest SoonerPoll Quarterly poll. The poll began fielding the day after the end of the Democratic Convention in Chicago, which introduced a new Democratic nominee for president. Former President Donald Trump leads with 56 percent of the vote, with Vice President Kamala Harris trailing at 39.9 percent, and 4.1 percent were undecided.

Within the poll results, it would appear that Harris voters do not align with her more socialist views as anywhere from 12 percent to 73 percent disapprove of her public policies or what she has said she would do if elected president.

"Since the recent changeup of the Democratic presidential nominee, it seems mostly Democratic Oklahoma voters do not know a lot about Kamala Harris," said Bill Shapard, senior pollster at SoonerPoll.com. "Given the two months left to go in this election, Harris' current support in this poll may fall as more and more Oklahoma Democrats discover she is more socialist in her views."

[QUESTION] "If the election for PRESIDENT was TODAY and it was between these two candidates, and you were standing in the voting booth RIGHT NOW and had to make a choice, for whom would you vote?"

1. Kamala Harris 39.9%
2. Donald Trump 56.0
3. Undecided 4.1

More than 29 percent of Harris voters disapprove of 'Medicare for All,' a proposal Harris made while a senator. The plan would move all Americans to a government-run healthcare plan thereby eliminated private healthcare insurance. During the 2020 Democratic presidential debate, only Harris and self-proclaiming socialist Senator Bernie Sanders were the only ones to raise their hands when asked, "who would abolish their private health care insurance in favor of a government-run plan?"

Also, more than 65 percent of Harris voters do not support defunding the police, although Harris, just five years ago, said that funding for the police needed to be diverted into other forms of community support because more policing, she believed, did not create safer communities.

[QUESTION: FILTERED ONLY HARRIS VOTERS] "Do you APPROVE or DISAPPROVE: Eliminating the federal agency responsible for the deportation of immigrants in the country illegally."

1. Strongly approve 5.4%
2. Somewhat approve 9.5
3. Don't know 11.6
4. Somewhat disapprove 34.7
5. Strongly disapprove 38.8

Amazingly, more than 73 percent of Harris voters disapproved of eliminating ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which works with local law enforcement to deport those who are in the country illegally. In June 2018, Harris said, "There is no question that we've got to critically re-examine ICE, its role, and the way it is being administered, and the work it is doing, and we need to be thinking about starting from scratch."

During the 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate, Harris also supported immigrants in the country illegally to receive government-funded healthcare benefits. In this poll, more than 71 percent of Harris voters disapproved of immigrants in the country illegally to receive Medicare/Medicaid having never financially contributed to those funds.

With regard to the use of price controls, which Harris just several weeks ago supported to combat high inflation of consumer goods, more than 25 percent of Harris voters disapproved.

[QUESTION: FILTERED ONLY HARRIS VOTERS] "Do you APPROVE or DISAPPROVE: A $5 trillion tax increase on businesses, unrealized capital gains which would be the nation's largest tax increase during peacetime."

1. Strongly approve 38.0%
2. Somewhat approve 34.0
3. Don't know 15.5
4. Somewhat disapprove 9.4
5. Strongly disapprove 3.1

Harris also proposed a $5 trillion tax increase just several weeks ago as well and yet 12.5 percent in the poll disapprove of the tax increase but say they are still voting for her.

Harris has also publicly supported a mandatory gun buyback program, which conservatives call confiscation, and more than a quarter of Harris voters disapprove of such a program.

"Kamala Harris may be the first candidate for president that wants less policing in the country while at the same time taking citizens' guns away from them to protect themselves," Shapard said.

‍About the Poll

SoonerPoll.com, Oklahoma’s public opinion pollster, asked these questions of Oklahoma likely voters.

The scientific study was conducted from August 24-31, 2024 with 323 likely Oklahoma voters selected at random statewide from SoonerPoll's proprietary online panel. The sample was weighted by education, political party, and congressional district in order to reflect the Oklahoma likely voter population for a general election. The weighting was conducted using a 'layered technique.'

The sample reflects the traditional demographical profile of the Oklahoma likely voter with roughly half of respondents identifying as conservative. The study has a Margin of Error (MoE) of ±5.45 percent.

A complete description of the methodology can be found here.

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