President Joe Biden’s support in America’s most Hispanic state has declined dramatically, according to a new poll.
Biden trails former president Donald Trump 57-41 in New Mexico, representing a sharp reversal from his 54-44 victory in 2020, according to the poll, conducted by Public Option Strategies in conjunction with Power the Future, an energy worker advocacy group.
The reversal of fortunes for Biden in New Mexico seems to be driven by dissatisfaction among Hispanic voters. Only 36% of Hispanic poll respondents approve of Biden, compared to 53% in July 2022. Conversely, 63% of Hispanic voters disapprove of Biden, compared to 43% in July 2022, according to the poll. Biden easily beat Trump among New Mexico’s Hispanic voters 61% to 38% in the 2020 election.
Biden’s struggles in New Mexico might be reflective of a broader backlash against his performance overall, as evidenced by national polling. Nationally, 58% of voters disapprove of Biden’s performance, in contrast to 39% who approve it, according to the poll. National polling data aggregated by FiveThirtyEight affirms these findings, with roughly 39% of Americans approving of Biden’s performance.
The Center Square Voters Voice poll of more than 2,500 likely voters conducted in January found similar overall dissatisfaction: 59% of likely voters disapprove of the job Biden is doing as president, while 39% say they approve of the job he is doing.
Seventy-three percent of New Mexico voters rated the state’s economy as “only fair” or “poor.” Twenty-seven percent of respondents agreed that the economy is “good.” Hispanic voters were even more pessimistic, with 80% saying that the economy is “poor” 19% rating the economy as “good.” Only 26% of respondents agree that their personal economic situation has “gotten better.”
Fifty-four percent of New Mexico voters say that the oil and gas industry is “most important” to the well-being of the state’s economy, an industry that the Biden administration has been adversarial towards. And 66% of the state’s voters are opposed to government-backed efforts to move away from oil and gas as an energy source. On Friday, the president, supported by environmental activists, paused the approval of new liquified natural gas exports.
“This poll proves what many outside of Washington, D.C. already know: the constant attack on America’s energy sources leads to higher costs and families know more green mandates aren’t the answer,” Daniel Turner, founder and executive director of Power The Future, said in a statement. “The people of New Mexico know their state receives billions from the oil and natural gas industry, and Joe Biden is doing all he can to stop it. Support for Joe Biden in this deep blue state has evaporated, and that should send shockwaves through the White House.”
New Mexico voters are also wary of the growing push toward electric vehicles, according to the poll. Sixty percent of respondents say they do not want to purchase an electric vehicle and 67% think it will “cost them more in the long run.” The Biden administration has touted its commitment to growing the electric vehicle industry, increasing taxpayer funding to help expand electric vehicle charging stations and announcing a $3.9 billion initiative to improve the country’s electric grid.
Moreover, the poll reveals New Mexico voters rank the economy, crime, illegal immigration, and inflation as their most urgent concerns, issues that national voters rate Biden poorly on.
