Photos: Left: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Right: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Joe Biden leads President Trump in Michigan 53% to 41%, doubling his lead over the incumbent since January, according to a poll of 600 likely Michigan voters conducted by EPIC-MRA for the Detroit Free Press.
Why it matters: Michigan, which Trump won by more than 10,000 votes in 2016, is considered an important battleground state in the upcoming election.
- In an earlier EPIC-MRA survey conducted in January, Michigan voters favored Biden over Trump 50% to 44%.
- Since that poll, the state has been hit hard by the coronavirus and the subsequent economic disruption.
By the numbers: Of those surveyed, 43% identified as Democrats and 38% as Republicans.
- Independent voters in the state are backing Biden over Trump, 63% to 23%.
- 63% said the country is heading in the wrong direction, up from 50% in January.
- 41% of voters approved of Trump's handling of the pandemic, while 58% disapproved.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), a potential Biden VP pick who has repeatedly been attacked by Trump during the coronavirus crisis, has an approval rating of 55% positive and 43% negative, up from 43%-50% in January.
- 60% commended her handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Methodology: EPIC-MRA surveyed 600 Michigan voters by telephone between May 30 and Wednesday. The margin of error is ±4 percentage points. The sample used was 40% cellphone users.