Various betting agencies are currently projecting Vice President Kamala Harris as the front-runner to be the Democratic nominee for the 2024 election, overtaking incumbent President Joe Biden as the front-runner.
The change in sentiment comes after the octogenarian gave a humiliating performance by former President Donald Trump in the recent presidential debate, Breitbart News reported.
UK-based betting company William Hill has odds of Harris winning the Democratic nomination later this year at 11/2 (15.4%), compared with 6/1 (14.3%) for Biden. Newsweek Report.
William Hill spokesman Lee Phelps said: Newsweek:
There was a big change in the US presidential election market this morning, with Kamala Harris overtaking Joe Biden to become the Democratic Party’s front-runner.
While Donald Trump remains the favorite to become the next president (4/7, 63.6%), Harris’ odds have increased from 9/1 to 11/2, while current President Joe Biden’s odds have fallen to 6/1.
Biden’s dismal performance in last week’s televised debate has raised further doubts about his chances of retaining the Oval Office, and Vice President Harris currently leads Biden in the approval ratings and is narrowly ahead of her Democratic colleague in the race.
Similarly, Forbes Report A dramatic change in bookmaker preferences.
Prediction market platform Polymarkets said Biden’s chances of becoming the Democratic nominee in November’s election had plummeted from a near-certain 90% on Thursday morning to 49% as of early Wednesday morning.
After some fluctuations over the weekend, he faced headwinds from within his own Democratic Party on Tuesday, plummeting from 78% to 49%.
As Biden’s chances of winning have fallen, betting markets have shifted money to Harris, with her odds of winning rising from 1% before the debate to 35% by early Wednesday morning, according to PolyMarket.
Others claim to be tracking similar changes.
Kamala > Biden enters betting market for the first time in history pic.twitter.com/SPPjQaKEAc
— Matthew Siegel, CFA Recovering (@matthew_sigel) July 3, 2024
Reuters Report Harris is the leading candidate to replace Biden if he decides not to continue his reelection campaign, according to seven senior Biden campaign, White House and Democratic National Committee officials familiar with current discussions on the issue.
Anonymous sources told Reuters that if Harris, 59, is the party’s nominee, she would receive funds raised by the Biden campaign and take over the campaign’s infrastructure.
According to the source, she has the highest name recognition of any of the other candidates and enjoys the highest approval ratings of any Democrat being seriously considered for the position.
