Biden’s Odds to Win 2020 Election Drop as Low as -135 After Picking Harris as VP
By Robert Duff in Politics News
Updated: March 9, 2021 at 2:40 pm ESTPublished:
- Democrat Joe Biden is still the favorite to win the 2020 US Presidential election
- Biden’s odds, which were -170 on average last week, have dropped as low as -135 today.
- Will Biden’s odds keep trending down with Kamala Harris as his running mate?
Joe Biden has a Vice-Presidential candidate. On Tuesday, he selected Kamala Harris, the junior Senator from California.
The presumptive Democratic candidate, Biden still sits as the chalk to win the 2020 US Presidential election. However, his betting line has faded over the past week and, after picking Harris, his odds went as low as -135 at one sportsbook.
Bet365 held firm, though. The site had Biden at -155 before the announcement and he remains there as of Tuesday night.
2020 US Presidential Election Odds
| Candidate | Odds at Bet365 |
|---|---|
| Joe Biden | -155 |
| Donald Trump | +125 |
| Hillary Clinton | +5000 |
| Mike Pence | +10000 |
Odds as of August 11th.
On average across the leading online sportsbooks, Biden’s 2020 election odds slipped from -170 to -157 between Aug. 4th and Aug. 10th.
Incumbent Donald Trump saw his odds of retaining his seat in the Oval Office improve from +142 on Aug. 4th to +128 on Aug. 10th. His shortest odds today are +115.
Americans are slated to go to the polls to elect a President on Nov. 3rd.
Polls Continue to Favor Biden
Averaging out the data from a variety of Presidential polls, Real Clear Politics is showing Biden with a 49-40 percentage edge over Trump in national polling numbers. That data crunched numbers posted through Aug. 10th.
Biden also continues to display leads over Trump in several of the key battleground states. He’s ahead 49.7-45.7 in Florida and 48.0-41.7 in Michigan.
“Joe Biden is in a significantly better position than Hillary Clinton ever was.” CNN's senior political writer and analyst @ForecasterEnten looks over brand new polls that show Biden holding his lead over Trump as the presidential election gets closer. https://t.co/0sosE87Tlm pic.twitter.com/P79cVvsBz6
— CNN (@CNN) August 7, 2020
Wisconsin (49.0-43.3), Arizona (47.5-45.3), North Carolina (48.0-46.0), Ohio (47.0-44.7) and Pennsylvania (49.0-43.3) are all currently showing advantages favoring Biden. Trump won every one of these states from Democrat Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Presidential election.
Trump captured each of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by less than 1% of the vote in 2016. Those outcomes basically swung the Electoral College in his favor and put Trump in the White House.
Explaining Trump’s Improved Numbers
As President, Trump is a much more visible presence than Biden. That fact of life is ramped up by the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is preventing normal pre-election campaigning.
This week, Trump also resumed his daily press briefings. As baffling as these press conferences often tend to be, the networks can’t resist giving them saturation-levels of coverage.
Trump: the great pandemic of 1917 ended World War II because all the soldiers got sick
🧐 right ok theres a lot to unpack herepic.twitter.com/oKxNiXEJqA
— dave ❄️ 🥕 🧻 (@mrdavemacleod) August 11, 2020
Everyone awaits the next spectacular Trump faux pas, from pronouncing Thailand “Thigh-land” to espousing how the 1917 pandemic brought a halt to World War II.
In the same manner that people just have to view the carnage as they drive past a wreck on the highway, Trump’s numbers always seem to perk up whenever he’s regularly in front of the camera. It’s why he so desperately wants to resume his campaign rallies.
Expect Biden to Get a Harris Bump
There are certain times during an election cycle when it can be expected that a candidate’s numbers will see a positive uptick. During and immediately after a party’s national convention, for instance.
Another time is when a Presidential candidate picks their running mate, so it was surprising to see some oddsmakers move him in the other direction.
https://twitter.com/joshscampbell/status/1293324349026385920?s=20
Harris is a very credible choice for Vice-President. Her background as a district attorney and California’s Attorney-General will counter Trump’s pledge that the Republicans are the law and order party.
Expect that the next odds movement in the 2020 Presidential election market to show Biden widening his lead over Trump.
Sports Writer
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
