Skip Navigation

President Biden’s job approval is dropping in Pa.: F&M Poll

  • Ron Southwick/PennLive
President Joe Biden speaks about his infrastructure plan and his domestic agenda during a visit to the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton, Pa., Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

 Susan Walsh / AP Photo

President Joe Biden speaks about his infrastructure plan and his domestic agenda during a visit to the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton, Pa., Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

(Harrisburg) – President Joe Biden’s approval rating in Pennsylvania has dropped substantially since the summer, according to a new poll from Franklin & Marshall College.

The F&M poll, released Thursday morning, found roughly one out of three (32%) registered voters in Pennsylvania said Biden is doing an “excellent” or “good” job as president. The numbers represent a substantial decline in the past few months. In August, 41% said Biden was doing a “good” or “excellent” job, while in June, that number was 44%.

While a majority of Democrats rate Biden’s performance favorably, his job approval has fallen among members of his own party as well. Since August, his positive job approval from Democrats has dropped from 78% to 62%, the poll found.

The poll indicates voters have a higher opinion of the president than of his job performance recently, but his favorability numbers have also declined. The new F&M Poll found Biden is viewed favorably by 45% of registered voters and unfavorably by 51%. In March, 52% viewed him favorably, while 45% viewed him unfavorably.

The F&M Poll surveyed Pennsylvania voters on a host of issues about elected officials and public policy. But Berwood Yost, director of the F&M Poll, said Biden’s drop in support was the most surprising aspect of the poll.

The favorability numbers indicated Biden retains good standing among voters, but unquestionably, some voters haven’t approved of his leadership in the past couple of months.

“It suggests he has an opportunity to win some people back, but you hate to see those numbers go in that direction if you’re the president,” Yost said.

Biden’s low approval among Republicans isn’t surprising (only 5% of GOP votes give him a positive rating), but the drop in Democratic support is noteworthy.

“He’s lost some support of the members of his base,” Yost said.

Biden has struggled to unify Democrats on a nearly $2-trillion spending plan aimed at recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and boosting social programs. He visited Scranton last week to rally support for his “Build Back Better” plan.

Voters who said he was doing worse typically cited the Afghanistan withdrawal, the economy, the border crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pennsylvania voters do not have a strong appetite for another investigation of the 2020 election by Republican state lawmakers, according to the poll.

The F&M Poll found 55% of voters surveyed said they opposed another review of the election. The poll found sharp differences along party lines, with Democrats (78%) and independent voters (64%) opposed to the election investigation, while 70% of Republicans supported it.

The poll also shed light on voter sentiment of other officials and issues.

Gov. Tom Wolf

The F&M Poll found Gov. Tom Wolf’s positive job approval rating was 42%, which is consistent with recent polls.

Former President Trump

Former President Donald Trump is viewed favorably by 39% of voters and unfavorably by 56% of voters, the poll found.

Abortion

Nearly 7 in 10 voters (69%) strongly oppose the idea of Pennsylvania enacting a law similar to a new law in Texas that would allow residents to sue anyone who performs an abortion or helps someone obtain an abortion.

The poll found 34% said abortion should be legal in any circumstance, while 51% said abortion should be legal in certain cases, and 11% said abortion should be illegal in any circumsance.

Marijuana

Consistent with recent polls, 60% of voters said recreational marijuana should be legal, while 35% opposed it.

The F&M poll surveyed 522 registered voters from Oct. 18-24. The survey included 244 Democrats, 205 Republicans, and 73 independents. The poll’s margin of error is 5.2 percentage points.

This story originally appeared at pennlive.com.

Support for WITF is provided by:

Become a WITF sponsor today »

Support for WITF is provided by:

Become a WITF sponsor today »

Up Next
Regional & State News

No. 17 Pitt tries to keep momentum going against Hurricanes