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Although California’s Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom told the White House he won’t challenge President Joe Biden in 2024, many voters — including more than a third of Democrats – want him to do so.
Among Democrats, 36% say Newsom should challenge Biden in 2024, and 43% say he should not, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey. A Newsom primary challenge to Biden is also approved by 32% of Republicans and 29% of unaffiliated voters.
The Rasmussen survey finds that 37% of likely U.S. voters have a favorable impression of California’s youthful governor, including 15% with a very favorable opinion of him. But 43% view Newsom unfavorably, including 32% with a very unfavorable impression. Another 19% are not sure.
Among Democrats, 59% view Newsom favorably, including 26% with a very favorable opinion. Newsom is also viewed at least somewhat favorably by 18% of Republicans and 34% of unaffiliated voters.
NBC News reported that Biden’s aides are annoyed that Gov. Newsom has agreed to debate Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Some Biden advisers have complained privately that the planned debate, which Fox News host Sean Hannity would moderate, could make voters think Newsom is running a shadow 2024 campaign at a time when most Democrats say they’d prefer a different candidate at the top of the ticket,” NBC wrote on its website.
Newsom is viewed at least somewhat favorably by more men (40%) than women voters (36%), and only 26% of women voters said Newsom should challenge Biden in 2024, compared to 40% of men.
More whites (37%) than black voters (16%) or other minorities (27%) have a very unfavorable impression of Newsom. Black voters are most opposed to Newsom challenging Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Among voters under 40, a majority (54%) have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of Newsom, compared to just 31% of voters 40 and older, and under-40 voters are also most supportive of Newsom challenging Biden for the Democrat nomination.
A majority of high-income voters (69%) have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of Newsom, compared to only 31% of those with annual incomes below $50,000. College-educated voters also have a significantly more favorable view of Newsom.
Retirees are most likely to have a very unfavorable impression of Newsom.
Among voters who have a very favorable opinion of Newsom, 60% said he should challenge Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.
The survey of 1,024 U.S. likely voters was conducted on August 21-23 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.
Peter Malbin ✉
Peter Malbin, a Newsmax writer, covers news and politics. He has 30 years of news experience, including for the New York Times, New York Post and Newsweek.com.