Vice President Kamala Harris appears to be underperforming Joe Biden in key New York districts, giving Republicans a slight edge for this election.
A report from Semafor showed that Harris’s poor showing in the Empire State could make it more difficult for the Democrats to tip the U.S. House in their favor on Election Day.
“Harris is neck and neck with Donald Trump nationwide, yet polls show the vice president lagging behind Biden’s 2020 performance in this blue state,” reported the outlet. “Those lackluster numbers could prove problematic for Democrats trying to take back the House, since most in the party believe a strong showing in Empire State battleground districts could decide the balance of power in the chamber next year.”
A recent poll from Siena College, for instance, showed that Kamala Harris has not reached Joe Biden’s 22-point winning margin from 2020. While Harris will likely beat Trump in the Empire State this election, her poor showing might affect certain House races, especially in swing districts.
“Generically, the fact that the top of the ticket is not doing as well at the moment as the top of the ticket did four years ago potentially makes the job of Democrats in marginal swing seats more difficult,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) celebrated the news on social media.
Rep. Greg Meeks, chair of the Queens Democratic Party in New York, disagreed that Harris will have a poor showing in New York, citing her support in Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito’s Long Island district and in the Westchester district.
“The GOP’s current narrow majority stems from a 2022 midterm election that didn’t yield a Republican wave nationwide but did deliver surprising victories in some of the state’s suburban and rural districts by focusing on crime and inflation; this year, they’re looking to the same themes along with immigration in their bids to hang on,” noted Semafor.
As Breitbart News reported on Monday, Kamala Harris also seems to be having trouble in Michigan where Arab-American voters have begun to sour on her candidacy due to the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza. The New York Times profiled the sudden split Arab and Muslim voters in Michigan have made with Kamala Harris — a voting bloc of 300,000 people in a swing state.
“Four years ago, President Biden won Michigan with strong backing from many of those Americans. But interviews this weekend with voters, activists and community leaders in the Detroit area suggested that support for the Democratic ticket has not merely eroded among Arab Americans and Muslims,” noted the Times. “In some neighborhoods, it has all but vanished.”