OCTOBER 7, 2024
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a rally at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Mich., Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. – AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File
Vice President Kamala Harris appears to be on track to receive the most votes this election among voters with a college degree, historically for a Democratic presidential nominee.
Harris is taking an 18-point lead among white college graduates and is 21 points ahead among all college degree-holding voters, according to margins shown by CNN. About 41 percent of the electorate expected to vote this year has a college degree.
“The electorate is becoming more polarized along education, and Democrats, at least among those with a college degree, are the beneficiaries of it, and Kamala Harris is doing historically well among voters with a college degree,” CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten said on Monday.
In 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a 5-point margin with white college graduate voters. In 2020, President Joe Biden saw a 9-point margin.
“It’s double the margin Joe Biden had just four years ago,” Enten said. “I went back to the record book. This would be the largest win for a Democratic presidential candidate among white college grads in recorded history.”
This trend continues through at least the early 1950s, and “you could probably go back even further,” Enten said.
“The bottom line is that Kamala Harris amongst this group is doing ridiculously, ridiculously well and is one of the main reasons she has been able to counter Donald Trump rising support among voters without a college degree,” Enten said.
Newsweek reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.
Former President Trump, the Republican nominee, has historically outperformed his Democratic opponents among white and non-college-educated voters. In June, prior to withdrawing from the race, Biden was losing support among voters without a college degree, marking 10 percentage points compared to that point in the 2020 campaign.
Reuters suggests that Americans without college degrees made up three out of five voters in 2020. Harris has lost some support from these voters.
According to a PBS News/NPR/Marist poll conducted between September 27 and October 1, Trump holds a 13-point lead among non-college-educated white women, with 55 percent of the vote to Harris’ 42 percent.
With 41 percent of the people predicted to vote this year holding a college degree, the electorate is the most educated in history. Enten said these voters are the reason Georgia was “flipped.”
Harris’ campaign reportedly sent a message to all Arizona college students, including those at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona, calling for them to register to vote and indicating, “We need your support to win,” according to a post by the College Republicans at ASU.
Harris’ running mate, Governor Tim Walz, has made multiple campaign stops at colleges. Most recently, he attended the Michigan-Minnesota football game and spoke to students at the Georgia Institute of Technology last week.
In terms of all voters with a college degree, Harris is 21 points ahead of Trump, which is 3 points better than Biden did in 2020 and 6 points higher than Clinton eight years ago.
In order to win in November, Harris needs 44 electoral votes from the toss-up states, meaning that it is crucial that she wins Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Enten pointed to these college-educated voters living in places such as Detroit, Philadelphia and Madison, Wisconsin.
“It’s historically high support for a Democratic candidate,” Enten said. “This is a big reason Kamala Harris is still in the race right now.”
Courtesy/Source:Newsweek
