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By Martha McHardy
US News Reporter
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Kamala Harris could beat Donald Trump in a presidential election if she chooses Josh Shapiro as her running mate, according to a new poll.
The survey, conducted by Public Policy Polling between July 17 and 18, before President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out, focused on registered voters in Michigan and Pennsylvania, which is believed by some experts to be the state Democrats need to hold in order to win.
Voters were asked for their voting intentions in a number of different scenarios, including Kamala Harris as Democratic candidate for president, running against Donald Trump and JD Vance. The vice president was then matched up with several different running mates to test their support base.
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The poll found that, with the right running mate, Harris could likely beat the Republican ticket in November. In Pennsylvania, 47 percent of voters said they would vote for her if she were running alongside the state's Governor, Josh Shapiro, while only 46 percent backed Trump and Vance.
However, Harris and Shapiro fared worse in Michigan, with only 42 percent backing them, compared to 47 percent choosing Trump and Vance.
The other running mate included in the survey was Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who did not fare as well against a Trump-Vance ticket.
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In Pennsylvania, 42 percent of those polled said they would vote for a Harris-Whitmer ticket, while 47 percent chose Trump-Vance. In Michigan, the results were tied with both the Republican and Democratic tickets receiving 46 percent each.
The poll surveyed 650 registered voters in Michigan and 624 in Pennsylvania and has a margin of error of 3.8 percent.
Harris has been floated as a potential replacement for Biden as the Democratic candidate for president since the Biden's disastrous debate performance last month in which he muddled his words and appeared to lose his train of thought.
Reports emerged on Friday that Biden could quit the presidential race within days as those close to him have privately voiced their concerns about his candidacy. Those predictions proved accurate on Sunday.
"It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term," Biden said in a statement posted on social media.
Since concern arose over Biden's candidacy, California Governor Newsom and his Michigan counterpart, Whitmer, have ruled themselves out of becoming Harris' No2, according to The Hill.
Shapiro and Harris have been contacted by Newsweek via email for comment.
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According to pollster Sarah Longwell, Harris could be in with a good chance of winning the election if she runs against Trump and Vance because Vance makes it easier to paint the Trump ticket as culturally extreme and pro-insurrection.
"He's got mini-fascist all over him," she told New Republic, citing his views on abortion which she says wreck his approval ratings with swing voters.
In contrast to Trump, Vance has opposed abortion rights, apparently even in the case of incest or rape, only making an exception for when the mother's life is in danger.
"It's not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term," he told an Ohio news outlet in 2021. "It's whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child's birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society."
Longwell described his views on abortion, which Vance has attempted to clarify, as "fanatical," adding that they will not win over moderate swing voters.
Vance has said: "The Democrats have completely twisted my words. What I did say, is that we sometimes, in this society, see babies as an inconvenience and I absolutely want us to change that, I do want us to be more pro-life." He does however support Trump's abortion policy, "to let voters in states make decisions."
Longwell added that in focus groups, swing voters focus on Biden's age. This, Longwell said, suggests that swing voters would prefer a Harris Shapiro ticket.
"In places like MI-WI, they would look at a Kamala-Josh Shapiro ticket and see something exciting and young," Longwell said. Harris is aged 59 while Shapiro is 51.
However, she revealed that in focus groups, swing voters have suggested they do not like Harris, but admit that they haven not seen much of her.
"Harris would give voters something new to chew on," she said, adding that in competitive states Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, "people would vote for Harris-Shapiro."
Trump is currently leading Biden by one point in Michigan (45 percent to 44 percent) and four points in Pennsylvania (46 percent to 42 percent), according to the Public Policy poll.
Last week, the Biden campaign continued to deny that the president will drop his reelection bid.
"The President is his party's nominee, having won 14 million votes during the Democratic primary," a campaign spokesperson told The Washington Post on Thursday. "He's running for reelection, and that will not change until he wins reelection."
However, that changed on Sunday with Biden dropping out of the race.
Update, 7/21/24, 2:30 p.m. ET: This article was updated to reflect Joe Biden dropping out.
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