Voters almost evenly split between Trump and Biden, Suffolk poll finds

If the 2024 Presidential Election were held today, it would be a toss-up between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, according to a new Suffolk University poll. 

When asked who they would vote for, about 34% of respondents said they would favor Biden, while about 32% said they would vote for Trump. But voters may be looking for an alternative to the frontrunners, since about 23% of respondents said they would vote for a third party candidate. 

“The same choices aren’t working this time around,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center said in a statement. “With one-in-four voters opting for an unnamed candidate, voters are disrupting the calculus that they will automatically vote for one of the two major party choices.” 

Some voters remain concerned about Biden’s age. He would be 86 by the time his second term would end. Biden was the oldest person to be elected president when he defeated Trump in 2020. About 37% of Democrats who participated in the poll said Biden’s age makes them less likely to vote for him.

On the other hand, the  indictments against Trump could be working against him. About 34% of Republican voters said Trump’s legal troubles made them less likely to support him in a future election.

When Republican voters were asked about who they would support in the primary, about 48% of respondents said they would still support Trump. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, seen as Trump’s primary challenger, garnered just 23%. 

If a general election between Biden and DeSantis was held today, Biden would likely win, according to the poll. About 33% of respondents said they would vote for him, while about 26% said they would support DeSantis. 

The threat of ever-increasing prices remains at the forefront of voters’ minds. When asked what the most important issue was in determining their votes, about 22% of respondents said it was inflation. The next-most popular responses were immigration, with about 11%, and threats to democracy, at about 10%. 

For this survey, pollsters questioned 1,000 registered voters between June 5 and June 9. Live telephone interviews were conducted with residents of all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

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