Category Archives: Election Analysis

Today: Election Preview

By Jim Ellis — Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Today’s Election Preview

Voting will occur in several places around the country today, including the Kentucky governor’s primary election. Two cities, Jacksonville and Colorado Springs, will choose their mayor, and a razor-thin result is expected in the hotly contested Philadelphia open Democratic mayoral primary.

Kentucky Governor

The Republican gubernatorial primary has transformed into a rather unique contest in that the Trump-endorsed candidate is actually being attacked from his political right. Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who former President Trump endorsed last June, is in a battle with former Trump-appointed US ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, who so far has a 10:1 spending advantage in attempting to paint him as less conservative than she.

Also in the race are State Auditor Mike Harmon, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, and eight minor candidates.

Key conservatives are split. While Trump and certain pro-life leaders are backing Cameron, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Rep. James Comer (R-KY) have all endorsed Craft.

Polling has been sparse. The latest released data came in April from Emerson College (April 10-11; 900 likely 2023 Kentucky election voters) and posted AG Cameron to a 30-24 percent advantage over Craft, with Commissioner Quarles at 15 percent. No other candidate reached seven percent.

Today’s winner will challenge Gov. Andy Beshear (D) in the general election. Beshear has strong favorability ratings and even though the Kentucky electorate votes Republican in federal races, defeating the incumbent Democratic governor will be no easy task.

In fact, the only published poll that tests the Republicans against Gov. Beshear was released back in January from Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy. Within the GOP field, Cameron paired best with the governor, but even he was down 49-40 percent in an early ballot test. Craft, though before her heavy spending raised her name identification, trailed Gov. Beshear by a my daunting 57-32 percent.

The Kentucky Secretary of State has typically performed as one of the fastest reporting election offices in the country. Therefore, today’s results should be released early in the evening.

The Mayoral Elections

Several polls of the Philadelphia Democratic mayoral primary are showing a virtual dead heat among at least four of the competitors, meaning today’s result will be very close and could well venture into political overtime.

The top candidates are former Philadelphia City Councilmembers Helen Gym, Cherelle Parker, and Alan Domb, ex-City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart and businessman Jeff Brown. It clearly appears the Democratic nomination is within reach of each of the aforementioned.

The winner will face former City Councilman David Oh, who is unopposed for the Republican nomination. He will automatically move into the November general election and could well become a viable contender considee previous citywide elections.

General election runoffs are being held in Jacksonville, Fla. and Colorado Springs, Colorado. Both seats are open and currently Republican held. Of the 100 US largest cities in terms of population, Republicans hold only 26 mayor’s offices.

In Jacksonville, Mayor Lenny Curry (R) is ineligible to seek a third term. Republicans nominated Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce CEO Daniel Davis, while Democrats chose former local television news anchor Donna Deegan. Republicans turned out in larger numbers during the March primary, and while Deegan finished first, the total Republican vote exceeded the Democratic aggregate.

Turning to Colorado Springs, Mayor John Suthers (R) is also ineligible to seek a third term. The first-place finisher in the early April 12-candidate non-partisan primary election was Yemi Mobolade, a Nigerian immigrant who is a vice president at the Colorado Springs Chamber & Economic Development Corporation. Opposing him is former Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams who placed second in the April primary.

Local elections such as these will take place in 29 cities during the latter part of this year.

DeSantis Trails in New Poll; Sen. Casey Expands Lead in PA; A Pastor Looks to Run in CA-41; Defeated Gov Candidate Interested in MD-6 House Race; Washington State Gov Candidate

By Jim Ellis — Monday, May 15, 2023

President

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R)

Florida: DeSantis Trails in New Poll — A National Research, Inc. survey of Florida Republican voters (May 8-9; 500 likely Florida Republican primary voters; live interview & text) for the first time found Gov. Ron DeSantis trailing in his home state. According to these results, which the DeSantis Super PACs will undoubtedly soon counter, former President Donald Trump has taken a 42-34 percent lead over Gov. DeSantis, with no other candidate even reaching three percent. A total of 16 percent claim to be undecided in the early part of the presidential race.

This poll again underscores Trump’s current strength in the party primaries. The trend could change, however, when Gov. DeSantis officially begins his national campaign.

Senate

Pennsylvania: Sen. Casey Expands Lead — Susquehanna Polling & Research returned a new Keystone State survey (May 2-8; 700 likely Pennsylvania voters) testing the upcoming US Senate race. Though former hedge fund CEO and 2022 Senate candidate David McCormick (R) is not yet an announced candidate, he was the only person tested against Sen. Bob Casey. The ballot test yielded the incumbent a stronger twelve-point lead, 53-41 percent. The previous published poll, from Franklin & Marshall College in early April, projected a 42-35 percent Casey edge.

House

CA-41: Party Switcher Enters Race Against Rep. Calvert — Pastor and San Jacinto City Councilman Brian Hawkins is looking to make a second run for Congress, but it will be in a different district and under a different party banner. Rev. Hawkins was the Republican nominee against Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Indio) in the new 25th District last November. He drew 42.6 percent of the vote. Now, however, he has popped up in District 41, wanting to run as a Democrat in hope of challenging veteran Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) in next year’s general election.

Already declared under the Democratic label is Lake Elsinore City Councilman Tim Sheridan, but the potential candidate the area politicos are watching is 2022 nominee Will Rollins (D) who held Rep. Calvert to a 52-48 percent victory. Most believe Rollins will return and be favored to advance into the general election with the congressman. The FiveThirtyEight data organization rates the 41st District as R+7. Former President Donald Trump carried the seat with a bare 50-49 percent margin over current President Biden.

MD-6: Defeated Gov Candidate Showing Interest in Open House Race — Former state Delegate Dan Cox (R), who was not much of a factor in the 2022 Maryland governor’s race in losing to author Wes Moore (D) by a 65-32 percent margin, said this week that he may have interest in entering the open 6th District congressional race that includes his home city of Frederick. Former state Delegate Neil Parrott, also from Frederick and who lost the last two congressional races against incumbent Rep. David Trone (D-Potomac), is also looking at a third run.

Both men come from the right wing of the Republican Party. This means they could split the primary vote, thus allowing a more moderate candidate who would likely fare better in the general election to claim the party nomination. With Rep. Trone vacating the seat to run for the Senate, this open seat will attract national attention in what promises to be a hotly contested battle for the House majority.

Governor

Washington: Second Candidate Announces — State Land Commissioner Hilary Franz (D) became the second announced gubernatorial candidate after three-term incumbent Jay Inslee (D) made public his intention not to seek re-election next year. Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) was first to take such action, indicating that he filed an “exploratory committee.” Since Washington election law does not recognize exploratory committees, he is officially considered a candidate.

The Washington all-party jungle primary is scheduled for Aug. 6, 2024. The top two finishers, possibly a pair of Democrats, will advance into the general election.

Texas Rep. Allred’s Looming Challenger; Calif. Reps. Kim, Levin Attract New Opponents; NY-4 Re-Match Forming

By Jim Ellis — Friday, May 12, 2023

Senate

Texas Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas)

Texas: Rep. Allred Unlikely to Have Free Ride — Last week, Texas Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas) announced that he would enter the 2024 Senate race to challenge two-term incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R). At that time, most believed Allred would be virtually unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Previously, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) indicated an interest in challenging Sen. Cruz, but he largely became a second thought when Rep. Allred declared his candidacy. Most then believed that Gutierrez would not force a Senate nomination campaign. However, the senator indicated Wednesday that he in fact is still considering launching a US Senate campaign and is headed toward becoming a candidate.

Coming from the district that houses the city of Uvalde, the site of the tragic 2022 school shooting, and the Del Rio community, where most of the illegals are entering the country on the Texas border, Sen. Gutierrez certainly represents some of the hot points in Lone Star State politics. Rep. Allred would still be favored to win the party nomination but adding Sen. Gutierrez to a competitive Democratic primary would certainly add spice to this intra-party campaign.

House

CA-40: Rep. Kim Attracts New Opponent — Retired Fire Captain Joe Kerr (D), who drew only 11 percent of the vote in a 2022 state Senate race in another part of Orange County, announced that he will now challenge two-term Rep. Young Kim (R-La Habra) next year. Rep. Kim defeated physician Asif Mahmood (D) 57-43 percent in a district that was 80 percent new territory from the 39th District in which she had originally won her first congressional election.

While it is clear the Democrats will need a stronger candidate to oppose Rep. Kim than Dr. Mahmood, it is probable that Kerr is also not the type of candidate who can unseat this more than capable Republican incumbent.

CA-49: A New Opponent for Rep. Levin — In both California’s 40th and 49th Congressional Districts, we see two candidates who lost the same 2022 state Senate race venturing into congressional contests. Auto dealer Matt Gunderson (R), who lost the general election to State Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas), says he will challenge Rep. Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano/La Jolla) in a CD that closely resembles the state legislative seat where he received 48 percent of the vote last year.

The 49th CD that stretches from Orange County south into San Diego, is a politically marginal district. The FiveThirtyEight data organization assigns a D+5 rating, while Dave’s Redistricting App calculates the partisan lean at 52.0D – 46.0R. Rep. Levin has three times defeated ex-San Juan Capistrano mayor and councilman Brian Maryott (R). In 2022, the margin was 53-47 percent. While clear the Republicans need a new candidate to compete in this district, it remains to be seen if Gunderson can wage an effective enough campaign to unseat the three-term incumbent.

NY-4: Re-Match Forming — Freshman Long Island Republican Congressman Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park) holds — along with California Rep. David Valadao’s (R-Hanford) 22nd District — the most Democratic seat in the country that elects a Republican to the House. Now, it appears that he will be facing a re-match with the woman he defeated in 2022, former Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen (D). The 2022 result was 51-47 percent in D’Esposito’s favor.

Long Island’s 4th District includes the town of Hempstead and the Garden City, Oceanside, Freeport, and Valley Stream communities among others. The FiveThirtyEight data organization rates the seat as D+10. Dave’s Redistricting App calculates the partisan lean at 59.6D – 38.9R. President Biden carried the district with a 56.8 – 42.2 percent margin, which suggests that Rep. D’Esposito has a difficult road to re-election in a presidential election year.

Trump Continues to Lead in Republican Primary Polls; Rep. Santos Charged; New Candidate in VA-7;
A Very Tight Philly Mayoral Race

By Jim Ellis — Thursday, May 11, 2023

President

Former President Donald Trump

Morning Consult Poll: Trump Opens Biggest Lead — Though former President Donald Trump may not be doing well in the courts, he continues to build a strong lead in Republican primary polls. The Morning Consult tracking survey (May 5-7; 3,574 US registered voters who identify or lead Republican; online) finds Trump hitting the 60 percent mark against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the second-tier candidates. The former US chief executive holds a 60-19 percent margin over DeSantis. Former Vice President Mike Pence and, surprisingly, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy lead the second-tier group with five percent support each.

House

NY-3: Rep. Santos Charged — Rep. George Santos (R-Long Island) was charged with federal crimes under a sealed indictment. A 13-count indictment was unsealed Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging Santos with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. It is presumed that Rep. Santos will not resign his seat while he fights the charges. Even before the indictment, four Democrats and two Republicans had already announced their 2024 candidacies. We can expect more potential candidates to soon come forward.

VA-7: Rep. Spanberger Draws Second Opponent — Businessman Bill Moher became the second Republican to announce his congressional candidacy opposite three-term Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Glen Allen). Previously in the race was Army veteran Shaliek Tarpley (R). Unless the Republicans find a top-tier 2024 candidate, it is unlikely the party will be able to unseat Rep. Spanberger in the post-redistricting seat where she will have had the opportunity of representing for a full term by the time of the next election. Rep. Spanberger was re-elected in 2022 with a 52-48 percent margin in a campaign where combined campaign spending exceeded $12 million not counting independent expenditures.

Cities

Philadelphia Mayor: Polling Shows Pre-Primary Dead Heat — A new Data for Progress survey (April 26-29; 560 Philadelphia likely Democratic mayoral primary voters; online & text) finds a tie at the top of the Democratic primary candidate field as the contenders head toward next Tuesday’s primary election day. The poll’s sponsor, former Philadelphia City Councilwoman Helen Gym and ex-City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart were tied with a support figure of 21 percent. Close behind is former City Councilwoman Cherelle Parker with 19 percent. Ex-Councilman Alan Domb, businessman Jeff Brown, and state Rep. Amen Brown followed with 13, 9, and 2 percent backing, respectively. Current Mayor Jim Kenney is term limited and cannot run.

Previously, a Survey USA poll (April 21-23; 1,013 Philadelphia likely mayoral Democratic primary voters; online) arrived at a similar conclusion, but saw an 18-17-15-14 percent split featuring Rhynhart, Parker, Gym, and Domb consecutively within the polling margin of error. It appears the Democratic nomination is within reach of several candidates as we move into the final week of campaigning. The winner will face former City Councilman David Oh who is unopposed for the Republican nomination. He will automatically move into the November general election.

Poll Shows Biden Trailing Both Trump & DeSantis; New Senate Candidate in Maryland; IL-7, NC-13 House Candidates Emerge

By Jim Ellis — Wednesday, May 10, 2023

President

Former President Donald Trump;
Florida Gov. Ron Desantis (R)

ABC/Washington Post Poll: Biden Trailing Both Trump & DeSantis — ABC News and the Washington Post released the results of their new national poll (April 28-May 3; 1,006 US adults; 438 Republican and Republican-leaning voters; 396 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters; live interview) and the data reveals President Joe Biden trailing both former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in ranges beyond the polling margin of error. The latter point, relating to the polling margin of error, is significant since the sample cut seems to skew Republican.

On the national ballot test, among an unspecified number of registered voters, President Biden trails Trump, 39-45 percent, and Gov. DeSantis, 38-44 percent. As stated before many times in previous posts, the national popular vote poll is not particularly important. The race will likely come down to how key states such as Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin ultimately break.

Senate

Maryland: PG County Executive to Announce Senate Campaign — Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) officially kicked off her open US Senate campaign yesterday. The move has been expected. Already in the Democratic primary race are US Rep. David Trone (D-Potomac) and Montgomery County Councilman Will Jawando. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Takoma Park) and former Rep. John Delaney (D) are potential candidates. The Democratic primary will almost assuredly decide the successor to retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D). The Maryland nomination battle, which will be hotly contested and a determinative precursor for the general election, is scheduled for May 14, 2024.

House

IL-7: Rep. Davis Running; to Face Dem Primary — The second Democratic challenger to Illinois Rep. Danny Davis (D-Chicago) came forward, which drew a quick response from the Davis camp indicating that the 81-year-old veteran representative will seek re-election. Davis had been on the rumored retirement list.

Educator Nikhil Bhatia (D) announced her candidacy, which precipitated the response from the Davis political operation. The major potential opponent, however, is Chicago city treasurer and former state Rep. Melissa Conyears-Ervin (D) who has filed a congressional exploratory committee and reiterated that she continues to test the political waters irrespective whether Rep. Davis will be her opponent.

The Democratic primary is the key to re-election (FiveThirtyEight rating D+70), so the March 19, 2024 election date is the key to winning the succeeding term. The race is worth watching. Rep. Davis won the 2022 Dem primary with only a 52-45 percent margin over community organizer Kina Collins.

NC-13: State Rep. Files Federal Exploratory Committee — Wake County state Rep. Erin Pare (D-Fuquay-Varina) announced the formation of a congressional exploratory committee in anticipation of the 13th Congressional District being redrawn before the 2024 election.

The state Supreme Court opened the door to another congressional and legislative redraw with their related ruling at the end of April. The new map is expected to help Republicans, and the 13th District, which freshman Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-Raleigh) represents and currently houses southern Wake County, the Fayetteville area, and Johnston County, is cast as a politically marginal district (FiveThirtyEight rating: R+3; Dave’s Redistricting App partisan lean: 49.5D-48.1R). It will likely become better Republican territory.

The redrawing process likely will begin after the US Supreme Court takes action on the North Carolina partisan gerrymandering case currently on their docket. A decision is expected before the end of June.

Ramaswamy Identifies VP Choice;
No Second Primary in Georgia; New Candidate in CA-25; Republicans Endorse Rep. Porter (D) Challenger

By Jim Ellis — Tuesday, May 9, 2023

President

2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy identifies running mate. / Photo by Gage Skidmore

Vivek Ramaswamy: Identifies VP Choice — In the unlikely event that businessman Vivek Ramaswamy wins the Republican presidential nomination, we will have the first bipartisan presidential ticket. Ramaswamy just announced that he would choose Robert F. Kennedy Jr., currently challenging President Biden for the Democratic Party nomination, as his running mate.

The idea, meaning a bipartisan ticket, is something similar to what the No Labels Party would craft if they can recruit a presidential ticket. Speculation abounds that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) could eventually become the No Labels presidential nominee in lieu of him embarking upon an uphill battle for re-election.

Georgia: No Second Primary — Earlier in the year, the Democratic National Committee adopted a new primary voting schedule that moved Georgia and Michigan into the pre-Super Tuesday group, bounced Iowa, made South Carolina first, and added Nevada to New Hampshire’s early primary date. With the announcement on Friday, Georgia will not be going along with the plan, and it’s states and not the political parties that have the ultimate decision-making power in this regard.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) declared that the state’s presidential primary will be held on March 12, and not Feb. 13 as the DNC wanted. The decision is not a surprise. With the Republicans not going along with the Democrats’ pre-Super Tuesday calendar change, it was always highly unlikely that Georgia or New Hampshire would accommodate the DNC. Michigan, by vote of the legislature and agreement from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), did comply.

Seeing that the Republicans were not moving and thinking that a Republican governor and legislature would schedule and finance two separate primary elections in order to accommodate the Democrats was never a reasonable supposition, and now it is official that Georgia won’t. The task of convincing a Republican governor and legislature to pay for the scheduling whims associated with a non-competitive Democratic nomination system was clearly a bridge too far. Expect New Hampshire soon to follow Georgia’s lead.

As a result, the Georgia stand alone presidential primary will be held one week after Super Tuesday. The regular primary election for every other office is scheduled for May 21, 2024, with a runoff date of June 19 for those races where no Peach State candidate exceeds the 50 percent majority mark.

House

CA-25: Second Candidate Comes Forward to Oppose Rep. Ruiz — Six-term California Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Indio) has drawn his second 2024 opponent. Former state Assembly candidate Ian Weeks (R) joins businesswoman Cici Truman (R) in the all-party jungle primary scheduled for Super Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Neither candidate is likely to be a major threat to Rep. Ruiz, but it is indicative of a California Republican Party potentially wanting to contest more Democratic seats in the state, building upon their success in like districts during the 2022 election. In that year, Republican candidates outperformed the redistricting map by four seats.

Rep. Ruiz’s seat changed significantly in redistricting. Instead of a 36th District that was fully contained within Riverside County, his new 25th CD, along with annexing the far eastern section of San Bernardino County, includes Imperial County. This entity houses about half of the California-Mexico border, including the border crossing point at Calexico. Previously, Rep. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego) represented this area.

The new Ruiz constituency, before which he recorded 57 percent of the vote in the 2022 election, contains 24 percent of people he had previously not represented. With the FiveThirtyEight data organization rating of D+12, and Dave’s Redistricting App’s partisan lean calculation of 56.4D-42.0R, Rep. Ruiz should have little concern, but the activity here potentially signals budding signs of a more competitive Golden State GOP.

CA-47: Republicans Endorse — The California Republican Party has already voted to officially endorse 2022 congressional candidate and ex-state Assemblyman Scott Baugh (R) for the open 47th CD that Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) is vacating to run for the Senate. Baugh, also a former chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, scored 48.3 percent against Rep. Porter in the 2022 election though outspent by almost $26 million.

The 47th could become highly competitive as an open seat. Fully contained in Orange County, the FiveThirtyEight data organization rates the seat as D+6, which is better from a GOP perspective than three of the seats their candidates won in the last election. Dave’s Redistricting App calculates the partisan lean at a competitive 52.5D-45.5R.

Additionally, Democrats have had some recent candidate problems here. Former US Rep. Harley Rouda, who had announced his candidacy, has already withdrawn due to health problems. State Sen. David Min (D-Irvine), largely believed to be the leading candidate, has just been cited for a serious drunk driving violation. CA-47 will be a race to watch next year.

Job Approval: A Poor Indicator

By Jim Ellis — Monday, May 8, 2023

President

Polling Numbers: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly — The Gallup organization last week released their historical comparison of commensurate modern-era presidential job approval ratings, and it appears that a high positive score is not necessarily a prerequisite for winning re-election; nor is a poor one a precursor for defeat.

Gallup listed the presidents from Joe Biden back through Dwight Eisenhower and captured their mean average job approval ratings from the period between January 20 and April 19 of the year prior to them seeking re-election. Presidents Gerald Ford, John Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson are not included because they were either not in office during the sampled period (Ford) or did not seek re-election (Kennedy because he was assassinated, while Johnson chose not to run for a second full term).

Looking at the Gallup number for each tested president (the posted figure representing the average polling result for the number of surveys conducted during the aforementioned testing period), President Biden is the worst performer at 38.7 percent favorable; George H.W. Bush, at 82.7 percent, was rated the best.

As you can see solely from that data point, even having the best job performance rating in the early part of the year prior to re-election is no guarantee of winning. While Bush had one of the highest positive ratings on record, he would then post the lowest popular vote percentage (37.5) and the second-lowest electoral vote total (168) of the nine presidents who ran for re-election after 1950.

The reverse is true, as well. The second-worst job approval rating at a commensurate period in his presidency is Ronald Reagan’s 38.8 percent positive score. Reagan would then rebound to the point of recording the strongest re-election electoral vote total (525 of the 538 available votes) in modern political history, and the second-highest popular vote score at 58.8 percent. The only president who outperformed Reagan in terms of a percentage of aggregate votes recorded was Richard Nixon’s 60.7 percent in 1972. Less than two years later, however, Nixon would be forced to resign in disgrace over the Watergate scandal.

Of the nine presidents since 1950 who ran for a second term, six were re-elected (Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama). Three were defeated (Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and Donald Trump).

In terms of those defeated, Carter’s job approval rating during the tested period was 41.2 percent, Bushes, as cited above, was 82.7 percent, while Trump’s was 46.8 percent.

Interestingly, both Bush’s significantly under-performed in their re-elections. George H.W. Bush dropped 45.2 points from his job approval score in the first quarter of the year before re-election compared to his popular vote total. His son, George W. Bush, was second in this category. While winning a second term with 50.7 percent of the vote, he dropped 12.6 points from his average first quarter 2003 job approval score of 63.3 percent. President Carter came the closest between early job approval, 41.2 percent, and his re-election popular vote total, 41.0 percent. His 49 electoral vote total in 1980, however, was by far the worst among the tested presidents.

Among those 10 presidents, including Biden, the average approval rating is 51.8 percent positive, while the average succeeding popular vote total was 50.3 percent (54.6 percent among the six winning presidents; 41.8 percent among the three losing chief executives).

While it is obviously better to be in a stronger job approval position heading into an election, having an upside-down ratio is not always disastrous. Conversely, as we’ve seen from the Bushes, posting high approval ratings the year prior to re-election is also no guarantee of success at the ballot box.

The fact that President Biden is on the low end of the approval rating index at this point in his presidency is not necessarily a cause for panic for Democrats, nor is it an ironclad prediction factor that he will lose the 2024 election. It is an indication, however, that he will have to pick up the pace of creating a better image and improving his perceived success rate regarding the handling of key issues.