WASHINGTON - A new poll by a super PAC aligned with President Joe Biden shows the president's overall approval has improved in three battleground states, but voters say he isn't handling issues like the economy and jobs well.
According to the survey from Unite the Country, Biden's approval rating has gone up from 42% in May to 45% in September, among 1,500 voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The favorability rating for former President Donald Trump declined from 44% in May to 39% in September.
More than half, 56%, say they approve of Biden's handling of the Covid response, 50% approve of his handling of the war in Ukraine and voters are split over his handling of abortion and reproductive rights.
The poll found 54% disapprove of Biden's handling of the economy and jobs, 51% disapprove of his handling of health care and 57% disapprove of how he handles crime and public safety. At least 60% of people in the three battleground states said they disliked Biden's handling of immigration, inflation and national debt.
Unite the Country pointed favorably to the fact that the voters feel toward certain legislative wins for the Biden administration. 82% of the respondents said it was important for the president to sign legislation allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug costs. Nearly 80% said he thinks his actions to address crime and support police have been important and that his work to improve the nation's infrastructure is important.
The group said in a statement about the poll that neither side has closed the deal, while the environment has improved significantly over the last 7 months for Democrats. As we have seen in past midterm cycles, these events can break late, and no single Democrat should rest for a second between now and November. The PAC will continue to educate voters in swing states about the successes of the Biden administration. When asked how many voters were going to vote for the Senate in November, an average of 52% in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin said they would vote for the Democratic candidate and 48% said they planned to vote for the Republican candidate. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents, with the Cook Political Report rating the Wisconsin race as a toss-up and the race for Pennsylvania's open Senate seat as lean Democratic.
Asked how they planned to vote for congressional candidates in their district, 50% of voters said they planned to vote for the Democrat, while 47% said they'd vote for the Republican. Some of the most competitive races in this general election cycle — that could determine which party holds the majority in the House for the next two years — are congressional races for House seats in Pennsylvania and Michigan.
The survey surveyed 500 voters in each battleground state from Sept. 14 to 19 with a margin of error of 2.5% at the 95% confidence interval.