Democrats see female ‘ghost voters’ as best chance for Harris victory

Democratic strategists alarmed over former President Trump’s track record of outperforming the polls are hoping that Vice President Harris will benefit from a surge of Democratic “ghost voters,” young women they hope will turn out in large numbers for Election Day even though they are not being captured by recent polls.

Polls in battlegrounds states such as Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin are not promising for Harris when considered in light of Trump’s history of winning more votes in these states on Election Day 2016 and 2020 than the polls indicated beforehand.

Harris held a rally with Beyoncé in Houston on Friday to further emphasize abortion rights in the final days of the campaign, amplifying a national message targeted at women between the ages of 18 and 35 who are “low-propensity” voters.

“You had the ghost voter in 2018 and 2022 because those turnouts were higher — particularly 2022 — higher than the Republicans predicted and it was a surge in young women, pro-choice voters,” said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake.