LANSING, Mich. — President Donald Trump is not on the Nov. 3 ballot, but a new statewide poll finds his low job rating may be dragging Republican candidates in Michigan congressional and legislative races.
Mitchell Research and Communications surveyed 682 likely voters on Oct. 1 for several Michigan television stations and reported Trump job approval at 42% with 56% disapproving. The firm said that unpopularity is part of why Republicans look weak up and down the ticket. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
On the U.S. House generic ballot, Democrats led Republicans 50% to 43%. On the Michigan state House generic ballot, Democrats led 49% to 44%. Researchers said Democrats look strong and will likely pick up seats, including a path to take control of the Michigan House of Representatives, where Republicans now hold the majority while Democrats hold the Senate.
Partisan splits were steep: 90% of Democratic identifiers disapproved of Trump job performance, while 83% of Republicans approved. Among independents, 63% disapproved and 36% approved. Women were far more negative than men, with 66% of women disapproving compared with 44% of men.
Eleven percent of respondents said they had already cast absentee ballots when the poll was taken. Early in-person voting can begin locally as soon as Oct. 5 and starts statewide Oct. 24. Separate Mitchell releases earlier in the week covered the U.S. Senate, governor, secretary of state, and attorney general contests.
