Poll: Trump, DeSantis Neck and Neck with Biden in Michigan

A hypothetical 2024 poll shows that former President Donald Trump is tied with President Joe Biden in Michigan, a state the Republican won in 2016 but lost in 2020, in a hypothetical general election matchup.

The EPIC-MRA poll, released Friday morning, shows Biden and Trump in a dead heat in the Wolverine State at 44 percent apiece. Another 12 percent are either undecided or refused to answer. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) performs slightly better in a hypothetical head-to-head with the 80-year-old Biden, leading 45 percent to 44 percent. In that matchup, 11 percent of the poll participants are undecided. 

Trump narrowly won Michigan over twice-failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, besting her by 10,704 votes. Biden won the state over Trump in 2020 by more than 150,000 votes, though Trump greatly outperformed his 2016 showing. 

Biden is in a weak spot politically with Michiganders, according to the poll. Just 29 percent of the respondents give Biden’s job performance positive marks versus 69 percent who grade it negatively. 

EPIC-MRA also gauged a potential U.S. Senate race matchup to replace outgoing Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), finding Republicans are very competitive in the battle for the Rust Belt seat. The poll pits Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who announced her candidacy in February, against former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, a Republican who ran in last year’s gubernatorial primary. Stabenow comfortably won reelection in 2018. 

In April, Craig told the Detroit News he was taking a “real critical look” at entering the fray at the urging of Michigan Republicans and would do his “due diligence.”

“I view myself as a people’s servant,” he said. “I’m most passionate about serving people. And I think if you ascend to a role as a leader in politics, that shouldn’t change, and I just think that’s lacking today. Some politicians lose sight of who they represent.”

Republican businessman Michael Hoover has already announced his candidacy, as has Nikki Snyder, a member of the Michigan State Board of Education. Democrat State Rep. Leslie Love and Pamela Pugh, also a member state’s board of education, join Slotkin in the Democrat primary field.

The polling outfit sampled 600 “active and likely” 2024 voters in Michigan between June 8-14. The margin of error is plus or minus four percentage points.