Roughly a quarter of Democrats support President Joe Biden in a crowded Democrat primary field, a McLaughlin & Associates survey found.
The survey asked respondents, “Thinking ahead to the 2024 Democratic primary election for President, if that election were held today among the following candidates, for whom would you vote?”
Several potential Democrat candidates were listed, including President Biden, former first lady Michelle Obama, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, failed Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, Vice President Kamala Harris, and several more.
In a crowded Democrat field, Biden garnered roughly a quarter, 26 percent, support, leading his closest potential challenger, Michelle Obama, by 12 percent. No other candidate listed saw double digit support.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), for example, garnered eight percent support, followed by Buttigieg (seven percent), Harris (six percent), and Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), both of whom saw four percent support.
Biden’s level of support is virtually unchanged from the 25 percent support he saw in January 2022. He hit an all-time high of 30 percent support in April 2022, but that sank to a low of 20 percent support months later, in July 2022.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is seen here speaking at a protest in front of the Supreme Court during a rally for student debt cancellation in Washington, DC, on February 28, 2023. He has garnered eight percent support. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
When Biden is taken out of the mix, Michelle Obama takes the lead with 19 percent support, while Harris and Buttigieg follow with 11 percent support each.
Notably, this same survey found former President Donald Trump leading Biden in a head-to-head matchup, 48 percent to the Democrat’s 44 percent.
The survey was taken February 17-23, 2023, and comes as the president struggles to match the level of support seen by Trump on the Republican side, as the 2024 GOP presidential candidate continues to lead his potential challengers by double digits, even hitting 50 percent support in some recent surveys, including the latest I&I/TIPP poll:
The survey also coincides with the trend of voters preferring to see another candidate as the Democrat nominee in 2024. However, while Biden has not formally announced, he has dropped hints that he intends to as his wife, first lady Jill Biden, said she is “all for it.”
“He said he intends to run. So, nothing’s been planned yet. I think, you know, he’s been so busy with being in Ukraine, handling some of the crises at home,” she said during a recent appearance on CNN, adding that it is ultimately her husband’s decision.
When asked if there is any chance he will not run, Biden replied, “Not in my book.”