Here are the chances in the race for the presidency

It goes without saying that voters have been inundated with political polls in recent months, all trying to give a sense of what will happen when Americans go to the polls on Election Day. And while polls have long been the primary tool for tracking how voters feel about certain races and issues, a new, non-traditional method of predicting election outcomes has gained popularity: betting.

So far, betting markets have largely favored former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris to win the presidential election. As of Monday afternoon, betting site Kalshi showed that Trump had 55% of bets on him winning and Harris 45% on becoming the next president – with over $200 million bet on the race so far.

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However, these odds are much lower than they were a week ago, when about 70% of bets were on Trump. James Powel, trends editor at USA Today, pointed to two recent events that he said could explain Harris' drastic change in direction.

“It's the Puerto Rican comments that really come from the Madison Square Garden rally,” Powel told Scripps News. “And then our Des Moines Register poll that showed Harris leading in Iowa.”

The Trump campaign is trying to distance itself from the backlash to a crude joke by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who last week compared Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage.” And while Powel believes this incident did indeed have a negative impact on Trump, he notes that betting markets are no more or less accurate than traditional political polls in predicting the election outcome.

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“There are times when Harris is clearly ahead, there are times now when Trump is clearly ahead. But even these things are not perfect,” explained Powel. “They are made by people, they are made by betting odds. They have failed twice before – most notably in 2016, when Trump defeated then-Secretary of State Clinton, who was considered the heavy favorite.”

“So these things are not perfect,” he added. “They give us a feeling, they give us a feeling of dynamism. And if, you know, even in the last week, the odds have swung back toward Harris even though Trump had the lead. But they're not perfect. I just want to make this clear.

You can watch Scripps News' full interview with USA Today's featured editorial reporter James Powel in the video player above.