Trump leads Biden in Michigan, Georgia battlegrounds: Surveys

Former President Trump is leading President Biden in the battleground states of Michigan and Georgia, according to polling released Monday.

The CNN polls found Trump has a 10-point lead over Biden among Michigan voters, despite the sitting president carrying the state in 2020. Fifty percent of Michigan voters said they would support Trump, 40 percent chose Biden and 10 percent said they wouldn’t choose either candidate.

Trump also secured a lead in Georgia, a state Biden narrowly won in 2020, according to a CNN poll. Forty-nine percent of Georgia voters said they would back Trump in a hypothetical general election match-up, while 44 percent said they would vote for Biden. Seven percent of respondents said they would not vote for either candidate.

Trump and Biden are the clear front-runners for the GOP and Democratic presidential nominations, setting the stage for a 2020 rematch in 2024. Large shares of voters in both battleground states disapprove of how Biden is running the country, with 64 percent in Michigan and 61 percent in Georgia saying they disapprove, pollsters discovered.

The surveys also highlighted potential problem areas for each candidate, with 69 percent of Michigan voters and 66 percent of Georgia voters saying Biden does not have the sharpness and stamina they want to see in a president. Fifty-seven percent of Michigan voters and 58 percent of Georgia voters said Trump’s temperament is not what they are looking for in a president.

The polls, conducted by SSRS, also surveyed respondents on how other GOP presidential primary candidates would fare against Biden in the two battleground states.

In a matchup between Nikki Haley and Biden, the former U.N. ambassador would win in both states, according to the polls. Forty-nine percent of Georgia voters said they would vote for Haley and 43 percent would vote for Biden. Haley carries an even wider lead in Michigan, with 50 percent saying they would vote for Haley and 38 percent voting for Biden.

In a hypothetical general election match-up between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Biden, the sitting president narrowly leads DeSantis by 3 points in Georgia. In Michigan, DeSantis leads Biden by 7 points.

The Michigan poll was conducted among 1,197 registered voters between Nov. 29 and Dec. 6 and has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points. The Georgia poll was conducted among 1,068 registered voters Nov. 30 to Dec. 7 and has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.