Amash Unlikely to Be a Spoiler for Biden or Trump, Poll Says: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- Justin Amash's third-party bid for the White House looks unlikely to be a spoiler for either Joe Biden or Donald Trump in the November election, according to a poll released by Monmouth University on Wednesday.

Biden has support from 47% of registered voters in the poll, Trump has 40% and Amash receives 5%. Amash is a representative from Michigan who left the Republican Party in 2019 and is a vocal critic of Trump. He announced his candidacy as a Libertarian Party candidate in late April.

Without Amash in the race, Biden is supported by 50% of registered voters and Trump by 41% with 3% saying they plan to back an independent candidate and 5% undecided. Biden's edge against Trump has slightly improved from April, when the presumed Democratic nominee led the president 48% to 44%.

Trump's job approval numbers have also gone down slightly, with a 40% favorable rating and 53% unfavorable. Last month, the Monmouth poll found Trump with 42% favorable, 50% unfavorable. He had 46% favorable and 49% unfavorable in March.

The poll also showed that voters don't seem to be affected by the the allegations of sexual assault against Biden and were split on the credibility of his accuser, Tara Reade. The Monmouth poll was conducted April 30-May 4 and has a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.

Coming up:

On Thursday, Joe Biden will hold a virtual rally in Tampa, Florida, as well as a virtual roundtable with African American leaders in Jacksonville.

Oregon is due to hold its Democratic primary on May 19. The state has conducted all statewide contests by mail since 1998.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.