Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are completely deadlocked in the race for the White House, a major national poll said Friday — an ominous sign for the Democratic nominee after leading national polls for weeks.

The poll from The New York Times and Siena College said Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump each got 48% of the popular vote, underscoring the strict rift in the electorate. It is a shift from the same poll’s result in October, which had Ms. Harris ahead 49% to 46%.

Prognosticators say the election remains a coin flip with less than two weeks until Election Day.

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However, Democrats were banking on a lead in national polling to give them optimism heading into the final stretch. A multi-point lead would suggest Ms. Harris had enough of a cushion to win over battleground states and the Electoral College.

Instead, polls show a tie in the popular vote, and Mr. Trump has a more direct path through the Electoral College.

The NYT-Siena poll contained positive news for both candidates.

For Mr. Trump, 15% of those polled said immigration was their top issue, up from 12%. The former president points to illegal immigration as his number-one concern and is hammering the Biden-Harris administration over the unchecked flow of migrants across the southern border.

Only 28% of respondents said the country was heading in the right direction, and the percentage of persons who said Mr. Trump, 78, is too old to be president remained static at 41%.

Ms. Harris, meanwhile, is convincing more voters she is equipped to handle the economy. Mr. Trump’s edge on the issue shrunk from 13 points to 6 points over the past month.

She enjoyed a 16-point lead over Mr. Trump on who would protect abortion access, a key issue for some women voters, and she seems to have the edge among the 15% of voters who said they are not fully decided between the candidates.

Ms. Harris led this group 42% to 32%, a change from two weeks ago when this contingent had been leaning toward Mr. Trump by 1 point.