Kamala Harris Flips Rust Belt Battleground State With Oddsmaker

Vice President Kamala Harris has retaken the lead in betting odds for the battleground state of Michigan, according to election betting site Polymarket.
Harris currently leads former President Donald Trump 56 percent to 45 percent, according to the oddsmaker, having overtaken Trump for the first time since October 10.
With its 15 Electoral College votes, Michigan is one of a handful of swing states expected to have a major say in determining the winner of the November 5 election. Most recent polls show the candidates neck-and-neck in Michigan, with either one leading by only one or two percentage points—which is within the polls’ margins of error.
Harris is marginally ahead of Trump in the polls in the state, with a 0.8-percent average lead, according to poll aggregator 538.
Harris’ clearest path to victory next week is to win the swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, assuming there aren’t any surprising results elsewhere.
Trump could reach 270 Electoral College votes by defeating Harris in Michigan and the Sun Belt swing states of Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina.
Polymarket, which describes itself as the world’s largest prediction market, is a platform in which investors trade futures based on the outcomes of various events using cryptocurrency.
According to the site’s odds, Trump currently has a 62.5 percent chance of winning the election, while Harris’ chances stand at 37.5 percent. These results reflect a recent 2.6 percent shift in Harris’ favor.
In 2016, Trump became the first Republican to win Michigan since 1988. In 2020, he lost the state to President Joe Biden by 2.78 percent.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump and Harris campaigns for comment via email.
Trump on Friday is expected to visit Dearborn, Michigan, which is the largest Arab-majority city in the country. He has been capitalizing on criticism of the Biden-Harris administration over the war in Gaza and unrest in the Middle East to appeal to Muslim voters.
Harris plans to head to Michigan on Sunday, two days before the election, her 12th day campaigning in the state since she became her party’s candidate in July.
Recent polling by The Washington Post found that Trump and Harris have distinct strengths and weaknesses in the eyes of Michigan voters. Registered voters said they trusted Trump more on the economy, immigration and U.S. policy on the Israel-Gaza war, while they backed Harris on abortion, health care and helping middle-class workers.