Quinnipiac Poll: 47 Percent Consider Third Party in '24

Americans are evenly split about whether they'd consider voting for a third-party candidate for president in 2024, with 47% saying they would and 47% saying they would not, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released Wednesday. 

"With neither President [Joe] Biden nor former President [Donald] Trump knocking it out of the park on favorability, almost half of the country would consider another option," Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said. "No specific name for the candidate, no specific designation for the party, but it is a vivid indication that for many voters, the status quo is a no-go."

Most independents, by 64% to 30%, said they would consider voting for a third-party candidate, while Democrats, by 61% to 35%, and Republicans, by 57% to 38%, said they would not consider it. 

The survey included 1,809 self-identified registered voters, including 727 Republicans and 763 Democrats, and carried an overall margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points. 

Meanwhile, the poll numbers changed little from the last poll, on June 14, when it comes to the GOP presidential nomination: 

• Trump, 54%
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 25%
• Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence, 4% each
• South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, 3% each
• Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, 2%
• Remaining candidates, less than 1%

The poll numbers also changed little for the Democratic Party nomination:

• Biden, 71%
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 14%
• Marianne Williamson, 7%

And when it comes to the general election, Biden leads Trump by 49% to 44% in a hypothetical matchup, which is essentially unchanged from June, which showed Biden over Trump by 48% to 44%. 

The pollsters also gave voters a list of eight issues and asked to rate them in order of importance in deciding who to vote for as president:

• 31%, the economy
• 29%, preserving democracy
• 7% abortion, gun violence
• 6%, immigration, healthcare, or racial inequality
• 5%, climate change
• Republicans, 51% said the economy; 22% said preserving democracy; 13%, immigration
• Democrats: 37% said preserving democracy; 12%, the economy; 12%, gun violence
• Independents: 34%, the economy; 30%, preserving democracy

The poll also showed Biden's job approval rating took a dip, from a negative of 41% to 54% in June to a negative of 38% to 54% in July. 

This included Biden's handling of: 

• Russia's invasion of Ukraine: 43% approve; 48% disapprove
• Foreign policy: 39% approve; while 53% disapprove
• The economy: 37% approve; 58% disapprove

The poll also asked about Ukraine: 33% said they think the U.S. does too much to help Ukraine; 18% said the U.S. does too little, and 41% said the amount of help is right. In addition, 64% said they think supporting Ukraine is in the national interest of the country, but 29% disagreed.

The survey also showed that most Americans, by 67%, said they are very concerned or somewhat concerned about climate change, and that 60% of Americans think the extreme weather events in the United States in the past few years are related to climate change, while 34% said they do not believe that. 

The poll further revealed a negative rating for the Supreme Court, at 35% to 55%, but that number was up from a negative 29% to 58% in June. 

Most of those polled, 70%, said they think justices are too influenced by politics, with 43% saying they think the court is too conservative and 19% saying it is too liberal.

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