Biden Leads RFK Jr. by 60 Points Among Democratic Primary Voters

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President Joe Biden maintains a formidable lead among the potential Democratic primary electorate following the entrance of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist who is former President John F. Kennedy’s nephew, according to a new Morning Consult survey. 

How Biden stacks up against Kennedy, Williamson

• Seven in 10 potential Democratic primary voters said they would support Biden for re-nomination, while 10% said they would vote for Kennedy and 4% said they would back self-help author Marianne Williamson, according to the April 7-9 survey.  
• Biden’s backing is down from 77% in a survey conducted at the beginning of March, after Williamson announced her candidacy. Over the past month, her level of support hasn’t moved. 
• Biden’s numbers are weakest among women, young people and lower-educated voters who indicated they would pull a Democratic ballot if the 2024 presidential primary or caucus was held in their state today, but he still holds wide leads over the two Democratic contenders among all of those groups.

How voters view RFK Jr.

Kennedy launched his campaign with little fanfare last week, filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission ahead of a formal announcement in Boston later this month. Just under half of the Democratic Party’s potential electorate (46%) said they had seen, read or heard at least something about Kennedy’s plans, though just 15% said they had heard “a lot.” 

Kennedy is far better known than Williamson, likely due to his esteemed family name. Among the party’s potential primary voters, 46% hold favorable views and 24% hold unfavorable views of Kennedy, while 23% have heard of him but have no opinion of him. In comparison, 45% of potential Democratic primary voters said they haven’t heard of Williamson. 

While Biden remains the overwhelming favorite to win the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, he’s no longer outperforming former President Donald Trump from four years ago in support from their respective bases like he was last month. The latest survey places Biden’s support for re-nomination closer to where Trump’s backing was at this point in the cycle four years ago, when he had 73% backing among Republican voters amid chatter about a possible GOP bid by then-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.  

Unlike Trump at this point, Biden has yet to officially launch his re-election campaign. He told NBC News yesterday that he plans to run but is “not prepared to announce it yet.” 

The latest Morning Consult survey was conducted April 7-9, 2023, among 827 voters who said they plan to vote in the 2024 Democratic presidential primary or caucus in their state, with an unweighted margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.