Trump gains slim lead in Michigan, battleground poll finds

New Quinnipiac University polls show Donald Trump gaining in the Rust Belt states central to Kamala Harris’ campaign, including taking a slight lead in Michigan.

The polls, conducted Oct. 3-7 and released on Wednesday, found that in a hypothetical two-way match-up, Harris leads Trump by 3 percentage points in Pennsylvania, 49 percent support to 46 percent. Trump, meanwhile, leads by 3 percentage points in Michigan, 50 percent to 47 percent. The race is even closer in Wisconsin, with the candidates neck and neck: Trump at 48 percent and Harris at 46 percent. All three results are within the margins of error.

The results represent troubling signs for Democrats: Harris’ lead appears to be shrinking in key battlegrounds as Election Day approaches. In Quinnipiac's poll conducted in mid-September, Harris held a lead in Pennsylvania and Michigan with the race essentially tied in Wisconsin.

Trump is set to hold a pair of campaign events Wednesday in Pennsylvania, including a rally in Reading and an event in Scranton, the hometown of President Joe Biden.

When it comes to issues, the Quinnipiac poll shows Trump leading Harris across all three states on the economy and immigration, similar to last month’s poll. Harris leads Trump on preserving democracy in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and on abortion in all three states.

Democrats saw support slip in the race for the Senate in Michigan, which is now tied. Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers are both drawing 48 percent of likely voters. Slotkin was up by 5 percentage points in September.

Democrats are maintaining their leads in the Wisconsin and Pennsylvania Senate races, where both seats are held by popular incumbent Democratic senators.

A poll released last week, the Cook Political Report’s Swing State Project surveys , showed Harris between 1 and 3 points ahead in five battleground states, easily within the margin of error. In a sixth state, North Carolina, Harris and Trump were exactly tied.

The Quinnipiac polls were conducted from Oct. 3-7, surveying 1,412 likely voters in Pennsylvania, 1,007 likely voters in Michigan and 1,073 likely voters in Wisconsin. The margins of error were plus or minus 2.6 percentage points in Pennsylvania, plus or minus 3.1 percentage points in Michigan and plus or minus 3 percentage points in Wisconsin.