More than a third of likely Democrat primary voters believe someone other than President Joe Biden should be the Democrat presidential nominee, according to a poll partially conducted after he announced his reelection bid on Tuesday.
The Emerson College Polling survey, taken April 24-25, shows that 65 percent of those who plan to vote in the Democrat primary want Biden as the nominee versus 35 percent who want “someone else.” When pitted against declared candidates, he sees a minor bump in support.
In the present field of Biden, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Marianne Williamson, the sitting president takes 70 percent of the support while 21 percent back Kennedy. Williamson holds eight percent of support.
Of note, this is one of the first polls of declared candidates conducted after Kennedy’s announcement last week.
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The poll follows similar trends to a USA Today/Suffolk University survey among Biden’s 2020 voters, which was released last week. That survey showed that just under one-third of his 2020 supporters want a different Democrat nominee.
While Biden took 67 percent of the response, 14 percent backed Kennedy, and 5 percent supported Williamson. The Suffolk poll was published hours before Kennedy officially launched his campaign in Boston last week.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the state Capitol Tuesday, May 14, 2019, in Albany, New York. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
In Emerson’s poll, Biden’s approval rating pings at just 41 percent, which is down 3 points since February.
“Driving Biden’s lower approval this month is independent voters, 37% of whom approved of the president in February, which has dropped to 30% this month,” stated Spencer Kimball, Emerson College Polling’s executive director.
Marianne Williamson leaves the stage after endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during a campaign rally at Vic Mathias Shores Park on February 23, 2020, in Austin, Texas. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Emerson College Polling also gauged hypothetical general election matchups between Biden and former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) among all poll respondents, including Republicans, Democrats, and independents. Biden leads Trump by a slim margin of 43 percent to 41 percent. DeSantis fares substantially worse, trailing Biden by six points at 37 percent and 43 percent, respectively.
“Independent voters are nearly split on the presidential ticket between Trump and Biden, 34% would vote for Biden and 33% Trump,” Kimball said. “A third of independents support someone else or are undecided.”
When asked to predict who will be the next president, “regardless of who [they] support,” 40 percent say Biden, 35 percent say Trump and 25 percent believe someone else will be the next commander-in-chief.
Emerson College Polling sampled 1,100 registered voters, including 448 individuals who participated in the Democrat primary portion of the poll, from April 24-25. The poll has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percent, though the margin increases for sub-demographics such as the Democrat primary aspect of the poll.