President’s Job Approval Rating Continues to Polarize

Cost of living dominates voters' minds

“Voters’ perception of the state’s progress and direction has remained stagnant over the past six months,” said Jenell Leonard, owner of MRG, LLC. “Since taking full control in Lansing, Democrats have been delivering on party platform issues, but it doesn’t seem to be moving the needle for or against them when it comes to appealing to voters.”

The Direction of the Country Continues to Slide Downward

The direction of the country has continued to spiral downward for over a year with 71% believing the country is on the wrong track and just 17% believing the country is headed in the right direction.

Not a single geographic, political or demographic group in Michigan believes the country is headed in the right direction, including only 39% of Democrats sharing that belief.

Biden’s Job Approval Continues to Dip

President Biden’s job approval ratings continue to decline with the most recent poll showing that 58% of Michigan voters disapprove of his performance, with only 31% approving. 

Liberal, Democrat and Detroit voters are the only demographic and geographic groups that give the President a positive approval rating. But, only 55% of African Americans give the president a positive job approval while 29% disapprove. All other political, demographic and geographic groups give the President a negative job approval rating. Only 19% of the all-important Independent voters approve of the job the President is doing while 61% disapprove. Only 38% of the union voters approve of the job he is doing while 53% disapprove.

President’s Personal Approval Dips Again

The president’s personal approval ratings have also declined with only 30% sharing a positive feeling toward the president and 56% sharing a negative feeling toward him. These numbers have polarized since the Spring poll when 33% shared a positive feeling toward the president and 53% had a negative feeling.

“The President has a long way to go to convince the people of Michigan that Bidenomics is working for them,” said Tom Shields, MRG’s Senior Advisor. “His base is soft and the opposition seems to be united in their belief that the President can’t do the job. That’s not a good combination for the President as the country enters the 2024 election cycle.”

Whitmer Continues to Weather the Storm

Governor Whitmer’s job approval received the same amount of support since the spring with 53% of voters approving of her job performance, but those who disapprove of her job performance declined to 31%. In the spring, 39% disapproved of her job performance.

The Governor received her highest job approvals from Detroit Metropolitan area voters, especially those in Detroit, Wayne County, Oakland County and the Tri-County area, as well. She also received positive job approval ratings from Democrats, liberals, younger voters, union members, African Americans and women voters. Her highest negative job approval ratings came from Republican and conservative voters and those living in the Traverse City media market. 

Whitmer’s Personal Ratings

The voters’ personal feelings towards the governor have remained statistically the same over the past six months with 48% sharing a positive feeling and 37% sharing a negative feeling. In March, the numbers showed 47% positive and 39% negative.  

"The governor continues to hit her stride in resonating with Michigan voters,” said Leonard. “Any Democrat on the ’24 ballot is sure to run from Biden and his abysmal ratings and embrace Whitmer in an effort to win their election.”

Legislative Approval

Adding a new topic of approval to the Michigan Poll®, Michigan voters give the Democrat-controlled legislature an approval of 37% with 30% disapproving of their job performance.

Top Issues

The cost of living is at the top of voters’ minds with 35% thinking about gas prices, inflation, and overall higher costs. Thirty-two percent are concerned about jobs and the economy, and 20% share concern over politicians and government.

“Voters haven’t felt any relief at the pump or at the grocery stores, and they share an increasing concern in politicians and the government,” said Shields. “Candidates will not only need to message around the top issues but also re-earn the basic trust of the voter. This may not be a good year to be an incumbent.”

The Questions and Results

The results and the wording of the questions asked by MRG follow.

Q. Do you feel things in this country are generally going in the right direction, or do you feel

things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track?

Q. And, thinking about things in Michigan . . . do you feel things in the State of Michigan are generally

going in the right direction, or do you feel things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track?

Q. In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job President Biden is doing as president?

[IF APPROVE / DISAPPROVE, ASK:] Would that be strongly (approve / disapprove)

or just somewhat (approve / disapprove)?

Q. In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job Governor Whitmer is doing as Governor? [IF APPROVE / DISAPPROVE, ASK:] Would that be strongly (approve / disapprove) or just somewhat (approve / disapprove)?

Q. Now, I'm going to read you the names of some people in the news, and I'd like you to rate your feelings

toward each one as very positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat negative, or very negative.

If you don't know the name, please just say so.

Q. In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job the Michigan Legislature is doing?



Q. What are the most important issues facing the state of Michigan at this time? That is, the one or two you personally are most worried about? (please choose category that is closest to the answer given and record the verbatim response). Note: individual numbers are rounded with ranking placements reflecting the total rounded number.



MRG Michigan Poll® Fall 2023

The survey of 600 likely Michigan voters was conducted by live interview October 2-8, 2023 with a +1 GOP sample. The sample was randomly drawn from a listed sample of all registered voters with a history of voting and stratified by city and township to reflect voter turnout. Quotas for gender and cell phone interviews were met within each geographic area, and extra efforts were made to reach African Americans. Seventy-five percent of the interviews were conducted with cell phone only or cell phone dominant households. Some columns may not add up to 100% because of rounding. Individual rounding may impact final totals. This survey yields a sampling margin of error of ±4 percent with a 95 percent confidence interval. The sampling margin of error for subgroups may be higher depending on the size of the subgroup.

About Marketing Resource Group

Lansing, Michigan-based Marketing Resource Group is an award-winning PR firm  representing corporate, association, nonprofit, and private clients with interests in Michigan. MRG offers expertise in public affairs, communications, political campaign management, and public opinion survey research. For more than thirty years, MRG has conducted its bi-annual omnibus Michigan Poll®, tracking the pulse of Michigan voters on key statewide public policy and political issues. MRG is the only Michigan public opinion survey research firm that maintains nearly 40 years of trend analyses of voter attitudes related to state and national leaders, political parties, and the political and economic climate in Michigan. Follow MRG on Twitter and on Facebook.