US Presidential nominee Kamala Harris appears to have found favour with most Kiwis, according to a new poll.

Numbers from Talbot Mills show she’s more than twice as popular as Republican nominee Donald Trump.

The poll comes ahead of Harris’ major speech to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) later today, where she’s expected to accept the party’s nomination for President.

Earlier this month, Talbot Mills polled more than 1000 people in New Zealand, asking the question: If you were eligible to vote in the American Election, who would you vote for?

Some 55 percent of people said Harris, some 21 percent of people said Trump.

The poll shows 12 percent would not vote, with 8 percent saying they were not sure and just 4 percent said they would prefer another candidate.

Talbot Mills conducts polls on behalf of the Labour Party – although this poll, obtained by Newstalk ZB, was gathered for its corporate clients.

The numbers come as the race in the US continues to heat up.

Earlier this week, former President Barack Obama spoke at the DNC, talking up Harris, while talking down Trump.
“We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos,” he told the convention.

Trump has also been critical of Harris, saying at a recent rally she was both “stupid” and a “Marxist or a communist” and said former President Barack Obama was “nasty.”

Back home, Prime Minister Chris Luxon has been careful not to pick a side.

"My job as Prime Minister is to work with whoever the American People elect – and I don’t want to pre-suppose that or be hypothetical about that,” he said during a Q&A at the Lowy Institute in Sydney last week.

Regardless of who wins, Luxon said he would “make it work, either way”.

“It’s hard to read in the heat of a campaign exactly what will happen on the other side of it, and what is rhetoric and what is actually policy and how that plays out.

“But our job is to make sure we have strong, deep relationships with whoever the American people select.”

Seemingly unshackled from the diplomatic duties of leading a country, former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – who participated in a panel at the DNC this week – left no room for ambiguity when she was asked who she was backing.

“Obviously for the American election, the most important opinion and support that Kamala Harris needs, is of course from the American public,” she told 1News.

“But if you’re asking me as a progressive if I support Kamala Harris – absolutely.”

Digging deeper into the Talbot Mills data, some 50 percent of men preferred Harris, compared to 31 percent who backed Trump.

The margin is much wider when it comes to woman: 61 percent supported Harris, just 11 percent supported Trump.

Talbot Mills also broke down the support for both candidates, by which political party in New Zealand the voters said they supported:

• - Green: 66% Harris, 8% Trump
• - Labour 65% Harris, 14% Trump
• - National: 55% Harris, 26% Trump
• - Act: 47% Harris, 32% Trump
• - Te Pati Māori: 45% Harris, 18% Trump
• - NZ First 35% Harris, 48% Trump

The poll was taken between August 1-10, with a sample size of 1105 and a margin of error of 3.1%.

Jason Walls is Newstalk ZB’s Political Editor and has covered politics in the Press Gallery since 2017. He’s worked for ZB since 2021, and before that was a member of the Herald’s Press Gallery team.