Has Trump or Harris campaign contacted more voters? New poll finds significant gap

With less than one week until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has contacted more voters than former President Donald Trump’s campaign, according to new polling.

In the latest Gallup poll, 42% of registered voters said they have been personally contacted by Harris’ campaign — including by phone, email, mail and in-person.

In contrast, 35% of voters said they’ve been reached by the Trump campaign, marking a 7-point difference.

Harris’ campaign has also gotten in touch with a larger share of its key constituents compared to Trump’s campaign.

A majority of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters — 58% — said they’ve been reached by the vice president’s campaign. Meanwhile, less than half of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters — 40% — said they’ve been contacted by the former president’s campaign.

However, Trump’s campaign had an edge when it came to reaching across the aisle.

Thirty-one percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters said they’d been contacted by Trump’s campaign, while 25% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters said they’d been reached by Harris’ campaign.

Harris’ campaign has not only gotten in touch with more voters than Trump’s campaign — but her team has reached more voters than four past presidential campaigns.

In 2012, 33% of voters said they were personally contacted by the campaigns of then-President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

And in 2008, 39% of voters said they were reached by Obama’s campaign, and 33% said they were contacted by John McCain’s campaign. Voters were not asked about campaign outreach in 2016 and 2020.

Harris’ advantage over Trump in voter outreach mirrors an advantage she holds in physical resources, according to CBS News.

The vice president’s campaign boasts 353 offices across the country and more than 2,500 staffers in swing states, according to the outlet. Its volunteers have also “knocked on 1.6 million doors and made 20 million phone calls.”

In contrast, the Trump campaign has outsourced much of its voter outreach to outside organizations — including America PAC, which was founded by Elon Musk.

The PAC — which has contributed more than $118 million to Trump’s campaign — could be a weak point for the former president’s ground game, according to The Guardian.

According to leaked data obtained by the outlet, about 25% of its registered door-knocks in two swing states — Arizona and Nevada — may have never actually happened.

Studies have shown that voter outreach efforts — including door-knocking and phone calls — can increase turnout.

This story was originally published October 31, 2024 at 12:55 PM with the headline "Has Trump or Harris campaign contacted more voters? New poll finds significant gap."