By Goodluck Ikiebe
With just two weeks remaining before the US presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are intensifying their campaigns in critical battleground states, where the race remains closely contested.
On Monday, Harris, the Democratic candidate, visited three crucial “blue wall” states—Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin—which have a history of voting Democratic and played a significant role in the victories of the last two Democratic Presidents.
Meanwhile, Trump, the Republican nominee, made campaign stops in Asheville, North Carolina, expressing concern that the recent devastation from Hurricane Helene could impact voter turnout in a race that surveys suggest is increasingly competitive.
According to a new survey published by The Washington Post on Monday, Harris and Trump are running neck-and-neck across seven key battleground states, which will be decisive in the outcome of the election.
The poll, conducted by The Washington Post and Schar School, involved over 5,000 registered voters in early October.
It revealed that 47 percent of voters support each candidate.
Among likely voters, Harris holds a slight edge with 49 percent backing her compared to 48 percent for Trump.
Trump recently saw a minor increase in his average in the aggregation of polls calculated by FiveThirtyEight, putting him narrowly ahead of Harris, though the difference remains within the margin of error, making it a statistical tie.
FiveThirtyEight’s election tracker, as of October 21, shows Harris leading in national polls by a 1.8 percentage-point margin over Trump.
In key states—Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada—accounting for 51 Electoral College votes, the candidates are virtually tied, with less than half a percentage point separating them.
A victory in all four states would almost certainly secure the presidency for either candidate.
On October 21, Harris made a campaign stop in Malvern, Pennsylvania, alongside former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney.
Speaking under a banner that read “Country Over Party,” Cheney urged disenchanted Republicans to support Harris instead of Trump.
The endorsement from Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is one of the most notable Republican endorsements Harris has received.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump criticized Cheney, calling her “dumb as a rock” and labeling her a “war hawk.”
Despite the backlash, Cheney stood by her decision, emphasizing that Harris represents a candidate who has remained loyal to the US Constitution—a principle she described as the “most conservative” for Republicans.
“You have a choice in this election between someone who has shown loyalty to the Constitution and who will continue to do so, and Donald Trump,” Cheney said, clarifying her stance in supporting Harris.
