Emerson Poll: RFK Jr. Nets One-Fifth of Voters

A new Emerson College Polling survey shows President Joe Biden with a solid lead for the Democrat nomination for president in 2024, but environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., grabbed one-fifth of the poll’s voters, implicating that Biden is already facing some competition for his reelection.

The national survey of 1,100 registered voters, conducted on April 24-25, while Biden was making his reelection bid official, showed Biden with 70% of the vote, compared to 21% for Kennedy, son of assassinated Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of assassinated President John F. Kennedy and longtime Sen. Ted Kennedy, and 8% for Marianne Williamson.

Kennedy’s numbers come after several Democrats, including Williamson, have criticized the Democratic National Committee’s decision not to plan any primary debates in the upcoming election, preferring instead to consolidate power behind Biden, reports Fox News.

“The DNC ‘plans no primary debates’ as though there simply ARE no other candidates … no other ideas we should discuss about ways to win in 2024, or other ideas we should discuss about ways to repair the country. Too many people are too smart to accept this,” Williamson has commented.

Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator who co-chaired Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, called the DNC’s decision “undemocratic” and said it “robs voters of choice.”

The Republican National Committee also did not sponsor primary debates between then-President Donald Trump and his challengers for the 2020 GOP nomination. There were several other candidates, but none were considered strong contenders.

Meanwhile, 65% of the poll’s Democrat voters said they think Biden should be the Democratic Party’s nominee, with 35% saying the nominee should be someone else, marking a drop of six points from February, when 71% said Biden should be nominated.

Biden’s support increased to 70% when compared with announced candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who got 21%, and Marianne Williamson, who got 8%.

The poll also measured a hypothetical matchup between former President Donald Trump and Biden, with Biden coming out slightly ahead by 43% to 41%. Another 10% said they would vote for someone else, and 6% said they are undecided.

Biden would come out ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in a hypothetical showdown for the White House, the poll said, with 43% for Biden to 37% for DeSantis. Another 10% said they would vote for someone else and 8% said they are undecided.

And, the poll revealed that regardless of who they supported for president, 40% of the voters think Biden will win his reelection bid, and 35% said they expect Trump will be the next president.

A quarter of the voters polled, though, said they expect someone else will be elected.