Kamala Harris takes back lead in betting odds over Donald Trump after debate performance
Bettors have swung back toward Vice President Kamala Harris as she retook the lead at the betting window from former President Donald Trump as the dust settled from Tuesday's debate.
Harris is even money or better at the U.K. and offshore betting houses USA TODAY has regularly surveyed, having started the week behind Trump.
The equivalent of over $1.1 million was wagered during the debate at U.K. bookmaker Betfair Exchange, where Harris took the lead from Trump about halfway into the 90-minute debate.
This is the second time in the campaign where the action, that U.S. betting houses cannot legally take part in, has snapped in Harris' favor. The odds swung to the Democrats during the Harris-Walz ticket's rollout and honeymoon.
The odds swing was not as dramatic as the drop for President Joe Biden after the debate in June where he moved from +200 before the poor outing to +420 after it at Betfair. The betting market move is larger than the first debate in 2020, where Biden extended his lead over Trump from -128 to +132 the day of the debate to -141 to +148 the day after.
How the odds swung during the debate
Presidential betting odds as of 9/12
Bet 365
Kamala Harris: -125
Donald Trump: EVEN
Bovada
Kamala Harris: -115
Donald Trump: -105
BetOnline
Kamala Harris: -120
Donald Trump: EVEN
Oddschecker
Kamala Harris: EVEN
Donald Trump: +108
How accurate have election odds been in past presidential elections?
The betting favorite has only lost twice since 1866, according to the Conversation, a nonprofit news organization.
Harris held the narrowest lead over Trump of any recent Democratic nominee at the 75-day mark, sitting at -102 at U.K. oddsmaker Betfair Exchange. By contrast Hillary Clinton's odds stood at -323, but Clinton went on to lose the election in one of the two times the betting underdog won on election night.
The other upset came in 1948, when Harry Truman (D) beat eight-to-one odds to defeat Thomas Dewey (R).
Contributing: Jim Sergent
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris retakes betting lead over Trump after debate