Trump leads Biden in 5 battleground states, New York Times poll says

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — If the election were held today, Donald Trump would win Arizona even though half of the voters think he’s committed federal crimes and poses a threat to democracy, according to a poll released Sunday.

The New York Times/Siena poll shows the former president leading the current President Joe Biden by five points (49%-44%) among registered voters. A year out from the 2024 election, the numbers signal a warning for Biden’s reelection campaign in a pivotal swing state he won by the narrowest of margins three years ago.

The same survey also had Biden trailing Trump, his likeliest Republican rival, in four other battleground states he won in 2020 -- Nevada, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The current president did hold a slim two-point advantage in Wisconsin, another state Biden carried three years ago. A lot can change politically over the next 12 months and it is not uncommon for an incumbent to face sagging political numbers heading into the final year of their first term.

In Arizona, the survey revealed Trump held strong leads among men who vote, live in rural parts of the state, and do not have a college degree. Among younger voters, 18-29 years old, Trump also leads Biden by double digits, while 70% of Arizona voters think Biden, who will turn 81 this month, is too old for the job.

Nevertheless, the voters questioned expressed significant concerns about the former president. Fifty-three percent of voters think “Trump committed serious federal crimes,” while 50% said his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election “threatened American democracy.”

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2023 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.