Biden ahead of Trump in Arizona, North Carolina and Wisconsin, three key states POTUS won in 2016: Polls
With the presidential election just two months away, the latest surveys conducted by Fox News in key states of Arizona, North Carolina and Wisconsin have shown that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is leading President Donald Trump, even if by single digits. Trump clinched narrow but crucial victories in all the three states in 2016 when he defeated Hillary Clinton to become the 45th president. This year, however, his task of winning the re-election bid is looking tough, thanks to a plethora of challenges he has faced since early 2020.
Arizona
According to the findings of the surveys that were released on Wednesday, September 2, Biden was holding a nine-percentage point lead over Trump in Arizona (which he won by roughly four points). Overall, the ticket of Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris got the backing of 49 percent of the likely voters. Trump and his deputy Mike Pence held 40 percent of the backing of the likely voters. Among the registered voters, too, Biden’s lead was growing. While the president got 39 percent of the registered voters’ support, the Biden-Harris duo got 49 percent.
Trump’s overall approval rating was, however, nearly the same among Arizona’s likely and registered voters. Out of the registered voters who were covered under the poll, 42 percent backed Trump’s presidential performance. In the case of the likely voters, it was 43 percent.
Wisconsin
In Wisconsin, half of the likely voters were set to back Biden if the election was held today. The Biden-Harris ticket got 50 percent while the Trump-Pence duo got 42 percent. The difference remained the same among the registered voters in the state with 49 percent backing Biden-Harris and 41 percent supporting Trump-Pence. Trump’s approval rating remained largely constant among both the registered and likely voters with the former getting backing of 45 percent. In 2016, Trump defeated Clinton by less than a percentage point in Wisconsin.
North Carolina
In North Carolina, the Democrats were leading the Republicans by just four points. While the Biden-Harris ticket got the support of 50 percent of North Carolina’s likely voters, the Trump-Pence ticket got 46 percent. Among the registered voters, too, the Dems got 49 percent of the backing while GOP leaders got 45 percent. Trump’s approval ratings in the state were very narrow in favor of those who disapproved (50 percent) against those who approved (49 percent). In 2016, Trump won North Carolina also by around four points.
The surveys, conducted after the national conventions of both the major parties concluded last month, include outcomes among likely voters for the first time this election cycle. This is also the first time that the presidential vote preference question includes names of both the presidential and vice-presidential candidates besides the Libertarian and Green Party candidates, who are now included when they are on the state’s ballot.
The surveys were conducted between August 29 and September 1 under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company (R). The surveys include interviews with 772 likely voters from Arizona, 722 likely voters from North Carolina, and 801 likely voters from Wisconsin randomly selected from statewide voter files. The interviews were taken over landlines and cellphones. In all three states, the margin of sampling error is plus/minus 3.5 percentage points for the total sample of likely voters. For the Arizona respondents, the interview could be done in either English or Spanish.