Recent polls show that Republican state senator Tom Barrett could challenge incumbent Democrat Rep. Elissa slotkin (MI), as President Joe Biden’s approval ratings for job are still in decline.
Slotkin is two points ahead of Barrett, despite having a substantial advantage in name recognition. However, Republicans have an 11-point advantage on the generic ballot and Biden is 26 point underwater in the district that he won in his presidential campaign. Biden’s latest approval rating was the lowest ever nationally.
Politico first reported an internal poll by the National Republican Campaign Committee, which showed Barrett leading the incumbent at 46.1 percent to 44.6%, with 10.3 percent undecided.
The internal poll found that Slotkin’s vote is at below 50 percent. This is the lowest level she’s been at since she won the seat in 2018.
Barrett, an Army veteran who Slotkin attacked for his training with the Army, was elected to Michigan’s House in 2014. He was then elected to the State Senate in 2018. After the poll’s message testing, he showed a greater lead — in percent of voters choosing him.
After messaging testing, 51.9 percent indicated that they would vote to elect Barrett, and 41.9 percent indicated they would vote to elect the Democrat.
After testing, the polling matches that of the generic ballot for Michigan’s Seventh Congressional District. The generic ballot showed that 50.3 percent would vote for Republican candidates, and only 39.3% would vote for Democrat candidates. 10.4 percent said they were undecided.
In the congressional district, Biden’s approval of his job is low. While only 36.2 percent approve of Biden’s presidency, 62.5 percent disapprove. Only 1.3 percent were unconvinced.
Cygnal, in Michigan’s Seventh Congressional District, conducted the NRCC’s intern poll from June 14-16. The poll surveyed 400 respondents in the district. There was a margin for error of plus/minus 4.70 percent.
Nationally, Biden’s approval rating fell to just 32 percent on CIVIQS’ rolling job-approval index last Saturday. This is the lowest of his presidency with a 57% disapproval. One in ten survey participants didn’t approve or disapprove.
Overall, Biden’s approval rating in 48 states is below average, including California, which is a dark blue state, and Delaware, his home state. His national net approval is negative 25.
Mike Berg, the spokesperson for NRCC, stated that Elissa Slotkin could do better if she did not spend too much time in Washington supporting Joe Biden’s massive tax increases and inflationary spending sprees.
