More than two-thirds of voters believe the country is on the wrong track
Jobs and the economy dominate the minds of voters

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 27, 2021
CONTACT
Tom Shields, Mobile: 517-449-9810, toms@mrgmi.com
Jenell Leonard, Mobile: 765-210-7971, jleonard@mrgmi.com

LANSING, Mich. – Support of the President and the direction of the country have taken a nose-dive in a recent MRG-commissioned Michigan Poll®. The survey, conducted October 18-24, shows that over 67% believe the country is on the wrong track compared to the 20% who believe the country is headed in the right direction. Asked the same question just six months ago, the results were 52% wrong track compared to the 36% who believed otherwise.

Voter sentiment in Michigan is more polarizing, as well, as 52% of respondents believe the state of Michigan is headed in the wrong direction compared to the 33% who believe Michigan is on the right track. Six months ago, respondents were fairly split when 47% believed the state was on the wrong track compared to the 44% who believed Michigan was headed in the right direction.

“Voter sentiment on the direction of the country is worse today than it was a year ago,” said Jenell Leonard, owner of MRG, LLC. “That sentiment is trickling into voters’ outlook on Michigan. The defining opportunity is how officials will handle the biggest issue on voters’ mind which is jobs and the economy.”

Support of Biden Flips from Spring Poll

President Biden’s job approvals have flipped with only 40% approving and 52% disapproving. These numbers are opposite from the spring poll when 50% approved of the President’s job approval rating with 41% disapproving.

Asked to rate their personal feelings towards President Biden and the results were similar with 39% sharing a positive feeling of the President and 49% a negative feeling.

The only areas of the state giving the president positive job approval ratings were the city of Detroit and the Balance of Wayne County. His highest negative ratings came from voters in Northern Lower Michigan, the Upper Peninsula, the Tri-Cities area, and Macomb County.

“The President’s handling of the Afghanistan evacuation, higher gas prices, inflation, the voters’ increased concern over the economy appears to be taking a real toll on the President’s job approval numbers,” said Tom Shields, MRG’s Senior Advisor. “With only 20% of the voters’ believing the country is on the right track, there seems to be very little confidence in the President at this time.”

Statewide elected sentiment

Governor Whitmer’s job approval ratings remain the same with 54% approving of her job performance compared to the 41% who disapprove. This closely aligns with the numbers from six months ago when the Governor’s approvals were at 53% compared to the 43% who disapproved.

The spread in the Governor’s personal approval remains relatively the same, as well, as 46% have a positive feeling towards the Governor and 40% share a negative feeling.

The Governor received her highest job approvals from the City of Detroit, Balance of Wayne County, Oakland County, and Mid-Michigan. Her highest negative job approvals come from Northern Lower Michigan, West Michigan, and the Upper Peninsula.

“The governor hasn’t been trying to cozy up to the Biden Administration lately, and that’s reflected in her results,” said Leonard. “As the direction of the state becomes more polarizing, the Governor’s response to getting the economy and jobs back on track will be critical as she moves into 2022.”

Top Issues

Jobs and the economy dominated the list of top issues at a commanding 45%. Coronavirus came in second at 28% and politicians/government topped out the top three at 22%.

“There is a real uncertainty among voters on the economy and the mix signals they are getting the pandemic and their elected official’s ability to make the right decisions,” said Shields. “These issues go hand-in-hand.”

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.

Joe Biden:
Total Positives: 39% Total Negatives: 49%
Gretchen Whitmer:
Total Positives: 46% Total Negatives: 40%

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). Anything else?

MRG Michigan Poll® Fall 2021
The survey of 602 likely Michigan voters was conducted by live interview October 18-24, 2021 with a +4 Dem 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.

Fifty 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 (www.mrgmi.com) 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.