MU poll: DeSantis takes lead on Biden in possible 2024 match-up

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WMTV) – President Joe Biden has fallen behind potential Republican challenger Ron DeSantis in a hypothetical matchup for the 2024 presidential race, a new Marquette Law School poll finds. The Florida governor climbed from being tied with the President in November to staking an eight-point lead (45%-38%).

Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump – the only prominent Republican to have officially thrown his hat in the ring –has pulled into a tie (40%-40%) with his successor in a supposed rematch of the 2020 campaign. In both possible showdowns, a large swath of voters remains undecided. Should DeSantis claim the GOP nod, one in six voters do not know which way they would vote or would vote for someone else. If it were Donald Trump’s name next to Biden, that number slips to 20%, MU reports.

When it comes to which GOP challenger Republicans and those who lean to the right would like to see on the ballot, DeSantis retains his commanding lead. Nearly two-thirds break toward the governor versus 36% for Trump. On the other side of the aisle, Democrats and voters who lean left are split (49%-51%) on whether Biden should top the ticket.

Biden Approval

Biden’s middling intraparty support for another go-round comes has his approval rating has leveled off since cratering last year, but is still stuck underwater. Since bottoming out at 36% in July of last year, the president’s approval numbers have returned to the 40s, where they have been for most of his presidency. It did slip a couple of points from Marquette’s last two polls and now sits at 43% with 56% of respondents saying they disapprove of the job he is doing.

When releasing its numbers, MU pointed out that the period the poll began on Jan. 9, three days before the Justice Dept. announced a special counsel would be appointed to investigate classified documents found with Biden’s personal effects. The poll did not conclude until Jan. 20, a week after the announcement.

In all, Marquette surveyed 1,000 adults across the U.S., 876 of whom were registered voters. It placed the margin of error for the nationwide survey at +/- 4 percentage points, and 6.1 percentage points for the partisan questions.

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