Latest Marquette poll shows Biden up slightly over Trump in Wisconsin but trailing DeSantis, Haley

With a year to go before the 2024 election, President Joe Biden holds a narrow lead in Wisconsin in a hypothetical rematch with former President Donald Trump, according to Wednesday's Marquette University Law School Poll.

Biden leads Trump 50% to 48% among registered voters, well within the survey's margin of error.

But two other Republican rivals fare better against Biden in potential matchups.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leads Biden by 50% to 48% while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is far ahead of Biden by 53% to 44%.

Poll director Charles Franklin said, for now, Haley "has the advantage of the Republican label without the disadvantages of the image that Donald Trump has."

Franklin cautioned that the poll is a reflection of "where we are today. It's not where we're going to necessarily be in November (2024)."

He said the value of polls is to show "the trajectory" of the campaign as it unfolds over the next year.

Just 42% had a favorable view of Biden, 37% for Trump, 37% for DeSantis and 31% for Haley. All the candidates were underwater with the voters.

Thirty-three percent of voters haven't heard enough about Haley to offer an opinion.

On issues, voters say Trump would do a better job than Biden on immigration and border security, the economy and foreign relations while Biden holds advantages over Trump on Medicare and Social Security, abortion and climate change.

Both of the main contenders have vulnerabilities. Biden on age, where 55% say "too old to be president" describes Biden very well. Trump suffers on corruption, with 35% who say "has behaved corruptly" describes Trump very well.

In the overall Republican primary sample, Trump leads with 38%, followed by DeSantis (18%) and Haley (11%). No other candidate scores higher than 3%.

Among Republican voters, DeSantis is viewed favorably by 73%, Trump by 69% and Haley by 54%.

The Marquette survey comes as the political world digests results from Tuesday's off-year races and a batch of polls across six battlegrounds by the New York Times and Siena College.

Democrats held the governorship in Kentucky, won control of the Virginia Legislature, grabbed a state Supreme Court seat in Pennsylvania and saw Ohio voters enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution.

Biden, though, continues to sag in polls.

The New York Times-Siena College poll among registered voters showed Trump with leads over Biden of between four and 10 percentage points in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

In Wisconsin, Biden held a 2-point advantage over Trump, identical to Wednesday's Marquette poll.

Biden won all six battlegrounds in 2020.

For the Biden campaign, the New York Times/Siena College poll was a warning shot, with 71% of those surveyed saying he's too old (Biden is 80) and 53% saying his policies have hurt voters.

“The only good news for President Joe Biden in this New York Times/Siena College poll is that it wasconducted a year before voters go to the polls,” said Don Levy, who directs the Siena College Research Institute.

Approval numbers for Tony Evers, Robin Vos and Tammy Baldwin

On Wisconsin issues, the Marquette Poll found just 36% say the state is headed in the right direction while 62% say it's on the wrong track.

Democratic Gov. Evers gets 53% job approval versus 46% disapproval. The state Legislature approval is 40% to 57% disapproval, while the state Supreme Court gets 51% approval to 43% disapproval.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is viewed favorably by 16% and unfavorably by 36%. Nearly half of voters haven't heard enough about Vos to form an opinion.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who faces re-election next year, is viewed favorably by 41% and unfavorably by 43%.

It turns out there's strong support for electing judges, with 87% saying it is better to have judges elected. Eighty percent say candidates should discuss issues during the campaign.

When asked whether new electoral maps should be redrawn, in light of a Supreme Court case that could force a round of redistricting, 51% of those surveyed said they favored keeping the current maps until 2031 over drawing new ones sooner and 45% said they preferred drawing new maps ahead of the next election.

Republican and independent voters favored keeping the current maps for eight more years until a new U.S. Census survey requires new maps to be created, while Democrats overwhelmingly preferred replacing the current maps that give GOP lawmakers an advantage.

The Marquette Poll of 908 registered Wisconsin voters was conducted Oct. 26-Nov. 2. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points for the full sample. For the GOP primary, the margin of error was 6.8 percentage points for 402 Republicans and independents who lean Republican.

The partisan sample was 30% Republican, 29% Democratic and 41% independent.

Reporter Molly Beck in Madison contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Biden up slightly over Trump, trails DeSantis, Haley in Marquette poll