As the 2024 primary field for president continues to take shape, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are clear favorites in their respective parties. In Tennessee’s Democratic primary for president, Biden has 63% of the vote while Robert Kennedy Jr. garners 7% and Marianne Williamson is at 2%. Interestingly, a notable 26% of Democratic primary voters remain undecided. On the Republican side, Donald Trump (61%) has a commanding 49-point lead on Ron DeSantis (12%) while Mike Pence comes in 3rd at 8%.

Donald Trump has a 21-point lead (55%-34%) over Joe Biden in Tennessee, while Ron DeSantis leads Joe Biden by 16 points (52%-36%).

“These primary results reflect what we’ve seen in national polls for months, that a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is the most likely scenario in 2024,” said Beacon spokesman Mark Cunningham. “It is interesting that Trump fares substantially better against Biden than Ron DeSantis does, and the change came almost exclusively from Republican voters who say they would vote for Trump as their nominee but would not vote at all if DeSantis were the nominee.” 

Education 

When it comes to education, voters from both parties are clearly eager for change. Only 36% of voters are satisfied with the K-12 public education system in the state, while 56%, including a plurality of Democratic voters, are unsatisfied with the current public education system. This was apparent when voters were asked about educational choice, Education Savings Accounts, and charter schools. A whopping 77% of Tennesseans agree that more public and private educational choices are needed, while only 9% disagree. When it comes to Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), the vast majority of voters (69%) believe that the program should be expanded statewide; only 17% disagree. The most notable finding is that ESAs are extremely popular even with Democratic voters (61%-26%). Additionally, the expansion of public charter schools to all counties was widely popular with 65% of Republicans, 59% of Democrats, and 69% of Independents all supporting the expansion. 

Bud Light 

There were many other interesting results from this poll. Public opinion on the expulsion of Justin Jones and Justin Pearson from the legislature for breaking House rules while protesting for gun control was completely split down the middle, with 39% approving of the expulsion and 39% disapproving. It also appears that the Bud Light boycott has hurt the product’s sales in Tennessee, with 22% of former Bud Light drinkers saying they have stopped buying the beer because of a recent marketing campaign.  

Trump indictment 

Additionally, Tennessee voters are nearly split on the recent indictment of former president Donald Trump; 44% of voters disapprove of Trump being charged in the classified documents probe while 43% of voters approve of the indictment. This is despite the fact that Trump leads Joe Biden by 21 points in a head-to-head matchup. Another interesting note is that 56% of Tennesseans believe that TikTok should be banned, which includes a majority of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, while only 25% don’t want to ban the popular app. 

Beacon spokesman Mark Cunningham stated, “We are really excited to release the first of many quarterly statewide polls. There are interesting and in some cases surprising results in our first poll, from the near 50/50 split on the Trump indictment question to the universal support of educational choice in the state.”

Cunningham continued, “With a lack of consistent and reliable polling in the state, we are happy to offer a transparent and unbiased look at what Tennesseans really think. While Beacon obviously holds certain policy positions, this poll is all about finding where Tennesseans really are and what issues they care most about by offering the public full transparency in terms of results, questions, and demographic info.”