Controversial national poll shows a candidate seven points ahead in the 2024 presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump

A new poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris widening her lead over former President Donald Trump among voters nationally with just over two months to go before Election Day.

According to the Fairleigh Dickinson University poll, the Democratic presidential nominee receiving an edge thanks largely to growing support among non-white voters.

The poll has Harris with 50 percent support to Trump's 43 percent support. Another seven percent said they would vote for someone else in the upcoming election. 

When voters are asked to think about race and gender in the upcoming election, the vice president's lead grows over Trump.

Each candidate has strong support from their parties. Among Independent voters, Harris has a lead over Trump 38 percent to 33 percent. 

Polling conducted Aug 17 to 20 among registed voters

The poll tested the role of race and gender's in voters' perception as part of an more controversial experiment in asking questions.

One-third of respondents were first given 'The race and ethnicity of the candidate' as a part of the survey while another third was first given 'Whether the candidate is a man or woman' as part of their survey.

The polling was able to compare how voters viewed the race when primed to think about race and sex versus those who were not, and it had a major impact.

When voters were not primed to think about the race or sex of the candidate, the race was basically tied between Harris and Trump 47 percent to 48 percent.

But when the list of issues mentioned the sex of the candidate, Harris pulled ahead 52 percent to 42 percent. When race was mentioned, Harris held a 14 point lead, 53 percent to 39 percent. 

 'When voters are thinking about race or sex, Trump’s support just plummets,' said Dan Cassino, a professor of Government and Politics at Fairleigh Dickinson, and the Executive Director of the poll.

Cassino pointed out that strategists and pundits often suggest Democratic candidates not talk about identity, but the polling results tell another story.

A new poll showed Harris leading Trump by seven points but also showed the vice president saw a boost when voters were first primed to think about race and gender in the survey

When it came to race, the biggest shift came in support from non-white voters. When voters were not primed to think about race Harris led Trump 55 percent to 39 percent among non-white voters. 

When voter were primed to think about race, Trump's support plummeted ten points to just 29 percent.

Among white voters, Trump led Harris by 11 points, but when white-voters were primed on race, Harris closed the gap slightly 47 percent to 44 percent. 

 When it came to gender, mentions of the sex of the candidate in the polling moved support away from Trump as well. 

Among women, priming voters to think about candidates' sex gave Harris a massive boost while Trump's support dropped. The net change resulted in Harris leading Trump 59 percent to 33 percent among primed voters. 

The polling also shifted when respondents were asked about how masculine or feminine they considered themselves. 

The men who considered themselves 'completely masculine' favored Trump to Harris 64 percent to 30 percent while all other men favored Harris by a 20 point margin. 

The women who claimed they were 'completely feminine' did not differ much from other women. Both groups favored Harris by a 20 percent margin. 

'We talk about the gender gap in voting as being between men and women,' said Cassino. 'But it’s not. The real gender gap is between men who are holding to traditionally masculine identities, and everybody else.'