Poll: Biden leads Trump by 11 points nationally

Former Vice President Joe Biden has opened up an 11-point lead over President Trump in the race for the White House, according to a new national survey.

The latest Firehouse Strategies-0ptimus poll finds Biden with 54 percent support from respondents and Trump with 43 percent. That’s a 3 point gain for Biden over the same poll in March when he led 51 to 43. 

A Quinnipiac University survey released last week also found Biden ahead by 11 points but most recent national surveys show a closer race. Biden leads Trump by 5.5 points in the RealClearPolitics average.

The Firehouse-Optimus poll also found that a sampling of the nation’s governors has a 72 percent approval rating for their handling of the coronavirus, well ahead of Trump at 48 percent and Congress at 47 percent.

“Governors have consistently held the highest approval ratings throughout the past few months while Trump and Congress remain neck and neck,” said Scott Tranter, founder of 0ptimus.

The new poll also found that the economy surpassed health care as the top concern for voters.

Of those surveyed, 31 percent said they view the economy as their top issue, followed by 22 percent who said health care. The same poll in March found 33 percent saying health care was their top priority against 21 percent who said the economy. 

“As the economic toll of coronavirus grows, Americans’ concerns are shifting from healthcare to economics,” said Alex Conant, founder of Firehouse Strategies.

The Firehouse-0ptimus survey of 1,557 likely voters was conducted between May 16-23 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.6 percentage points.