Final polls of the presidential race before election day give Joe Biden a commanding lead nationwide, but with gaps narrowing in some key battleground states.
With two days remaining until the elections, some pollsters are still urging caution about certainty of a Democratic win despite Biden’s lead over President Trump. The president’s shock victory in 2016 has contributed to unease about current survey results.
“This election is probably the most competitive 10-point race I’ve seen,” Republican pollster Bill McInturff told the Wall Street Journal.
McInturff and Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt conducted the final election poll for the Journal and NBC News, in which respondents broke for Biden 52-42. A Fox News survey released on Saturday showed a similar result, with Biden leading 52-44.
Polls of battleground states are more varied in their findings, however. Biden leads Trump by 47-44 in Florida and 49-43 in Pennsylvania and Arizona, according to a final pre-election New York Times/Siena College poll. (The same survey gave Biden an eleven-point lead in Wisconsin.)
However, Trump holds a 50-48 lead over Biden in Florida according to a different survey by the Washington Post and ABC News, with pollsters calling the Florida election a “toss-up.” The Post and ABC poll also found that Biden leads Trump 49-45 among all registered voters in Pennsylvania.
Biden was scheduled to campaign in Pennsylvania on Sunday in an attempt to win over that state’s 20 electoral votes. Biden, who has stopped in Michigan and Wisconsin during the final stretch of his campaign, appears to be attempting to win back Democratic strongholds that flipped to support Trump in the 2016 elections.
The president, campaigning in Michigan on Sunday, has countered by portraying himself as better for American manufacturing industries. Trump has also highlighted Biden’s comments on ending fracking in an attempt to appeal to Pennsylvania voters.