AFP, Washington

Kamala Harris has taken a slim lead over Donald Trump in their bitterly contested US presidential race, according to a new poll released Tuesday which shows the Democrat gaining support among Republican voters.

With four weeks to go before election day on November 5, Vice President Harris and former president Trump are essentially deadlocked as they scramble to get out the vote and reach the sliver of Americans who remain undecided.

The national poll conducted by Siena College and The New York Times found Harris ahead by 49 percent to 46 percent, with registered voters crediting the Democratic nominee more than Trump with representing change and caring about people like themselves, but giving the edge to Trump on who is the stronger leader.

The rivals were tied at 47 percent in a mid-September Times/Siena poll shortly after the two clashed in their presidential debate.

The overall result is largely in line with an aggregate of national polling collated by RealClearPolitics.com, which has Harris ahead by two percentage points.

In the seven battleground states seen as likely to determine the election outcome, the race is even tighter.

Democrat Harris, the new poll also showed, has begun making inroads with the rival party, with nine percent of Republicans saying they planned to support her, up from five percent last month.

She touched on the issue Tuesday during an appearance on popular ABC television show “The View,” where she talked about campaigning recently with Republican former congresswoman Liz Cheney.

There are more than 200 former officials from past Republican presidents George W Bush and George H W Bush, as well as officials tied to Republican heavyweights John McCain and Mitt Romney, who have endorsed her, Harris said.

“We really are building a coalition around some very fundamental issues, including that we love our country and that we have to put country before party,” she said.

She also accused Trump of “full-time perpetuating lies and misinformation,” and said voters have grown “exhausted” with the strategy.

Trump has presented an increasingly aggressive posture, slamming Harris Tuesday as “completely inept” in her previous night’s interview on news program “60 Minutes.”