President Biden and former President Trump are tied in the battleground state of Michigan, according to an Emerson College poll released Friday.
Biden and Trump each garnered 44 percent support from Michigan voters, while 8 percent said they would vote for someone else and 5 percent said they are undecided. However, the poll found that when Green Party candidate Cornel West was added to the ballot, Trump led with 43 percent and Biden came in with 41 percent. West garnered 4 percent support.
Within their respective primary fields, Biden and Trump dominated. On the Republican side, 61 percent of Michigan GOP primary voters said they planned to support Trump, while 13 percent said the same about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). Former Vice President Mike Pence came in with 7 percent, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy garnered 4 percent support. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R) came in with 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
On the Democratic side, 65 percent of Michigan Democratic primary voters said they supported Biden for the nomination, while 11 percent said they supported Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Five percent said they supported Marianne Williamson, and 17 percent said they were undecided.
The poll also showed Biden with a 43 percent job approval rating and a 50 percent disapproval rating.
“Just over half of independent voters, 51 percent, disapprove of the job Biden is doing in office. This is a pivotal group in Michigan that Biden won over in 2020 yet is struggling with both nationally and statewide in recent surveys,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling.
Michigan will likely play a decisive role in the presidential election next year. Trump notably flipped Michigan in 2016, narrowly winning it by less than a percentage point. Biden flipped it back four years later in 2020, winning it by less than 3 points.
The Emerson College poll was conducted Aug. 1-2 among 1,121 registered Michigan voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.