CNN’s senior political data reporter Harry Enten on Tuesday detailed just how close the polls say the 2024 race for the White House remains, with now less than two weeks until Election Day.
Enten said he’d analyzed polling data back to the 1972 election and declared of this year’s toe-to-toe contest between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and GOP rival Donald Trump, “Holy cow, from a historical perspective.”
“Based upon the polls at this point, we are heading into the election with the closest polls in the Electoral College that we have ever seen at least over the least 50 years,” said Enten.
Polling in four key battleground states showed Trump enjoying a less than one point lead over Harris in North Carolina and Harris with the same slender lead over Trump in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
“The four states that are most likely to determine this outcome are all within a point,” noted Enten, who explained how that current analysis would see Harris winning 276 electoral votes against Trump’s 262.
However, “flip Pennsylvania,” said Enten, and Trump would win with 281 electoral votes. That’s not such a “long shot” idea, he said, given how close polling in the state is. 270 electoral votes are needed to win the presidency.
“It’s a historically close campaign whether you look at the national polls or state polls,” Enten confirmed.