Kamala Harris forged a lead in a flurry of new polls of battleground Pennsylvania on Thursday as the impact of her debate performance starts to take hold on the electorate. Just over a week after viewers crowned Harris the winner of the debate, several new polls show the Democratic presidential nominee strengthening her position in the Keystone State, which most analysts on both sides of the partisan divide say is the single most pivotal swing state. Harris leads Pennsylvania with 50% support compared to 46% for Trump in a new New York Times/Siena College poll released Thursday. The result is similar to an August survey from the same pollsters. It’s one of several surveys of Pennsylvania that, taken together, offer a rosy picture of Harris’ standing in the state. She leads by 50%-47% in a Thursday poll from Franklin & Marshall University poll, an in-state pollster with a strong record. A Quinnipiac University poll Wednesday gave Harris a 5% lead while the Washington Post survey found a tighter 1% lead and Marist University called it a dead heat. A USA Today/Suffolk U. poll painted a similar picture, with Harris up by 3% statewide and narrowly ahead in the state’s two most closely watched bellwether counties: Erie and Northampton. Several polling averages now say Harris holds a narrow lead of about 2% in Pennsylvania as election officials prepare to send out mail-in ballots as soon as next week. Harris also leads in national polling averages by about 3% and has expanded the lead modestly since her strong debate performance. Trump has ruled out a second debate with Harris, a stance that leaves him with no obvious key events that could turn the tide in a contest that appears to be trending away from him. The election will likely be determined by voters in seven battleground states, six of which were narrowly won by President Biden in 2020. Pennsylvania is considered the most pivotal of the swing states in part because it is the most populous and has 19 electoral votes. It’s also considered the most closely matched among the three so-called Blue Wall states in the Rust Belt, a list that includes Michigan and Wisconsin. For Trump to win 270 electoral votes, must win all the Sun Belt battleground states — a list that includes Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina — as well as Pennsylvania. Harris has what most analysts consider to be an easier set of paths to victory. She could either win all three Blue Wall states or alternatively lose one of those three but win Georgia or some combination of the Sun Belt swing states. Pollsters are finding Harris performing significantly better among white and older voters, while she remains somewhat behind Democratic benchmarks among Black, Latino and younger voters. That dynamic is a good sign for Democrats because history says Black voters in particular are likely to deliver an overwhelming margin to Harris, who is vying to become the first Black woman president, when votes are actually counted in November.