MU Poll Finds Few Changes in Voter Opinion on Trump, Impeachment

There were no big surprises in the final Marquette University (MU) Law School poll of 2019. The poll found little movement in questions about President Donald Trump and impeachment. Democratic candidates in the 2020 presidential primary regained ground on Trump in head-to-head questions, though there was little change in voters’ top choices for the nomination. Wisconsin voters’ opinions of Gov. Tony Evers improved – slightly – after dropping in the previous poll.

 

President Trump

Trump’s approval numbers remained almost exactly the same as in November at 47 percent approval and 50 percent disapproval. 47 percent is the highest approval rating of Trump in the MU poll this year. Voters still have strong opinions – whether approving or disapproving – of Trump’s job as president. Trump’s favorability remains steady at 45 percent favorable, 50 percent unfavorable.

 

Impeachment

The poll found almost no change in voter opinion on impeachment since conclusion of testimony in November. 40 percent still say Trump should be impeached and removed from office. 52 percent don’t think so. Democrats are much more supportive of impeachment than Republicans.

70 percent of voters are following the impeachment proceedings very closely or fairly closely. The poll found no statistically significant difference in how closely Republicans and Democrats are following the impeachment testimony. 27 percent of independents say they’re not following closely.

 

2020 Democratic Presidential Primary

The 2020 Democratic candidates for president regained ground after falling behind Trump in the November poll. Former Vice President Joe Biden, regaining a one-point advantage, was the only candidate to beat Trump in a head-to-head question. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont), U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), and South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg still trailed behind Trump, but their margins narrowed to one or two points. In the November poll, Trump was beating each of these candidates by three to five points.

The December poll also asked about U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey). National polling hasn’t shown Booker as a top candidate and the latest MU poll showed only 4 percent view Booker as their top choice. However, Booker was still competitive with other candidates in head-to-heads with Trump, losing to Trump by only one point.

Among Democratic voters, Biden is still top choice, followed by Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, respectively. However, 65 percent of Democratic voters say they could change their mind.

December was the first poll to ask about Michael Bloomberg, since the former NYC mayor jumped in the race in November. Bloomberg had the lowest favorability out of the six candidates polled at 14 percent. 42 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of Bloomberg, while 37 percent hadn’t heard enough. Just 3 percent of voters chose Bloomberg as their top choice.

 

Candidate Voters’ Top Choice Trump Head-to-Head Favorable Unfavorable Haven’t Heard Enough
Biden 23% 47-46 39% 46% 9%
Sanders 19% 45-47 37% 51% 7%
Warren 16% 44-45 31% 44% 22%
Buttigieg 15% 43-44 24% 24% 44%
Booker 4% 43-44 20% 27% 43%

 

Gov. Evers

 Evers’s December approval numbers improved slightly from what were some of his lowest numbers yet in the November poll. Approval of Evers was back up to 50 percent from 47 percent in November. Disapproval of the governor lowered to 38 percent from 42 percent in November. Also slightly improved from November, 45 percent of voters in the December poll had a favorable opinion of Evers, and 37 percent had an unfavorable opinion.