Enthusiasm Grows for Trump-Biden Contest in November
Voters in both major parties are getting more enthusiastic about a Trump-Biden presidential matchup in November.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 67% of Likely U.S. Voters now consider a choice between Donald Trump and Joe Biden a choice that they are excited about. That’s up from 60% in late April. Twenty-eight percent (28%) still say they will simply be voting for the lesser of two evils, down from 34% three months ago. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The good news for Biden is that 71% of Democrats are now enthusiastic about a Trump-Biden election, up from 57% in late April. Seventy-five percent (75%) of Republicans are excited by a choice between President Trump and the former vice president, compared to 71% in the earlier survey.
Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 51% are excited about a Trump-Biden matchup; 41% view it as a choice between the lesser of two evils.
Seventy-five percent (75%) of all voters still favor the candidate they liked at the beginning of the year. Sixteen percent (16%) have switched candidates since then, while eight percent (8%) remain undecided.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted July 19-20, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Biden leads Trump by three points in the latest Rasmussen Reports White House Watch election matchup survey. We will update those numbers at noon Eastern today.
Women are less enthusiastic about a Biden-Trump matchup than men are. The older the voter, the more excited they are about the upcoming election.
Blacks (61%) are less excited about a Biden-Trump race than whites (66%) and other minority voters (71%).
Eight percent (8%) of Republicans have changed candidates since the beginning of the year, compared to 23% of Democrats who had several primary choices and 16% of unaffiliated voters.
Seventy-eight percent (78%) of voters who still favor the candidate they liked at the beginning of the year are enthusiastic about the Trump-Biden matchup. Among those who have switched candidates, 49% are enthusiastic, while nearly as many (47%) will be voting for the lesser of two evils.
Voters still think most news reporters are biased and will continue to help Biden a lot more than Trump in their coverage of the presidential campaign.
A New York Times columnist has urged Biden not to debate Trump in the fall. Most voters think that’s a bad idea, although only 54% believe Biden is even up to debating the president given ongoing questions about the former’s mental health.
Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.
Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it's free) or follow us on Facebook. Let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted July 19-20, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Related Articles
Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.
We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.
Some information, including the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and commentaries are available for free to the general public. Subscriptions are available for $4.95 a month or 34.95 a year that provide subscribers with exclusive access to more than 20 stories per week on upcoming elections, consumer confidence, and issues that affect us all. For those who are really into the numbers, Platinum Members can review demographic crosstabs and a full history of our data.
To learn more about our methodology, click here.
