But Jason Streem, also 46, a dentist from the Cleveland suburbs who supports Trump, objected to the way Harris became the nominee.
“She was never part of the running process,” he said in a follow-up interview. “She never received the primary votes.” He called it “the most undemocratic way of picking a nominee.”
Biden stepped back from his reelection race a little more than a month ago, under pressure by party leaders and donors who feared he could not win. That opened the door for an unprecedented quick switch to Harris for the nomination.
In the USA TODAY/Suffolk poll, Biden’s vote share this year never topped 37.5%, and he trailed Trump from as little as half a percentage point last spring − basically, a tie − to nearly four points immediately after the Biden-Trump debate in early summer.
This was the first survey since independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump. Independent Cornel West is now at 2%. Green Party nominee Jill Stein and Libertarian Chase Oliver are at 1% each.
When voters supporting third-party candidates were asked for their second choice, 32% said Harris, 24% West and 15% Trump.
