Voters Show First Signs of Confidence in State Direction in Half a Decade
Contact: Jenell Leonard, Mobile: 765.210.7971, jleonard@mrgmi.com
LANSING, Mich. – Seventy days into President Donald Trump’s second administration, and voters view the direction of the country improving, but there’s still opportunity to do better. The latest MRG-commissioned Michigan Poll® conducted March 24th- 28th 2025, finds 56% of voters believe the country is on the wrong track, with 37% of voters thinking the nation is headed in the right direction. These numbers are an improvement from the Fall ’24 MRG-commissioned Michigan Poll®, that found 66% of voters feeling the country was on the wrong track with 24% saying the country was headed in the right direction under the final months of the Biden Administration.
The numbers are starkly different based on geography and party affiliation. A total of 93% of City of Detroit voters believe the country is on the wrong track, a 10% increase from Fall 2024. In Oakland County, 66% of voters believe the same, a 15% increase from Fall 2024. In contrast, there has been a nearly 20% swing in West Michigan, where 51% of voters believe the country is on the wrong track compared to 70% last fall.
Republicans have had a complete turnaround in their views of the direction of the country, with 76% believing the country is on the right track. While a majority of Independents (59%) still believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, this number has decreased by nearly 12% since the fall, indicating a slight improvement in outlook. Almost all Democrats believe that the country is going in the wrong direction, at 94%.
“While the sentiment of Michigan voters about the direction of the country has improved since President Trump took office, their optimism is still under water, based mostly over concerns about economic uncertainties and inflation,” said Jenell Leonard, President of MRG.
Direction of the State Turns Positive
Looking at Michigan, 46% believe the state is headed in the right direction, compared to the 36% who believe the state is on the wrong track. These numbers represent a double digit swing from Fall of 2024, and marks the first time in five years that more Michiganders believed the state was going in the right direction than not.
President Trump’s Job Approval Remains Static
President Trump’s approval ratings remain largely unchanged with Michigan voters since his first term. Fifty-one percent of Michigan voters disapprove of his performance, while 42% approve. These numbers are five percentage points better than voter’s approval of former President Biden last fall.
The president maintains a majority of support from voters aged 50-64 where 50% approve of the president’s job, along with 82% of conservative voters. The president maintains a stronghold on his base where 88% of Republicans approve of his job performance.
However, Independents and union voters express notable dissatisfaction. President Trump’s approval rating with unions largely mirrors President Biden’s ratings from the fall of 2024, where 52% disapprove and 40% approve. Only 32% of Independent voters approve of the president's job, which still marks an increase of five points from Biden’s fall numbers. Ninety-five percent of Democrats disapprove.
President’s Personal Approval Remains Stale
President Trump’s personal approval ratings ticked down one percentage point from his last time in office with only 39% sharing a positive feeling towards him. Compared to Biden’s personal approval rating in fall of 2024, Trump is seven percentage points higher. Eighty-two percent of Republicans give Trump a favorable personal rating.
“One thing about President Trump from his first term to now, in both personal feelings and job approval ratings, his numbers remain consistent, especially amongst the two parties where he remains wildly popular with the Republican base and strongly disliked by Democrats.” said Leonard.
Whitmer Job Approval Holds Steady
Governor Whitmer’s job approvals have enjoyed an uptick of three percentage points since the fall. Today, 57% of voters approve of her job performance; her highest approval rating in five years. Her biggest support comes from Democrats (93%), Independents (65%), and women (65%). Across the state, the governor enjoys 83% approval from those living in Detroit, 73% from those living in Oakland County, and 50% of those in Macomb. While support in Detroit and Oakland County rose 5 percentage points and 9 percentage points respectively, her support in Macomb County fell by thirteen.
Those who disapprove of her job performance also decreased by 6 percentage points with 33% disapproving. The governor’s biggest opposition comes from Republicans (68%) and Conservatives (65%). Geographically, the governor receives her lowest job approval ratings from those living in Northern Lower Michigan (50%).
Whitmer’s Personal Ratings See Minor Increase
Up three percentage points from the Fall, the Governor’s personal feelings have increased to 52% compared to 36% who share a negative feeling towards her.
"Governor Whitmer continues to connect positively with Michigan voters, and has recently seen a small bump, which is likely the result of her conciliatory tone towards President Trump and the new House Majority in Lansing over the past several weeks,” said Leonard.
Top Issues
The top two issues with voters have remained the same over the past six months. Inflation and higher prices received a collective 27% with jobs and the economy coming in at 24%. The third ranking issue is Michigan’s favorite spring-related topic: roads and infrastructure coming in at 23%.
"While the economy and jobs and inflation remain the leading concerns for Michigan voters, roads and infrastructure have jumped back to being the third biggest issue on voters’ minds,” said Leonard. “In addition to this being a common topic during the spring months in Michigan, this increase could also be attributed to the ongoing road funding debate that has been taking place in Lansing since House Republicans took majority and new Speaker Matt Hall began reframing the debate.”
The Questions and Results
The results and the wording of the questions asked by MRG follow.
Q. Do you feel things in this country are generally going in the right direction, or do you feel things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track?
Q. And, thinking about things in Michigan . . . do you feel things in the State of Michigan are generally going in the right direction, or do you feel things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track?
Q. What are the most important issues facing the state of Michigan at this time? That is, the one or two you personally are most worried about? (please choose category that is closest to the answer given and record the verbatim response).
Q. Now, I'm going to read you the names of people that have been in the news, and I'd like you to rate your feelings toward each one as very positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat negative, or very negative. If you don't know the name, please just say so.
Q. In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job President Trump is doing as president? [IF APPROVE / DISAPPROVE, ASK:] Would that be strongly (approve / disapprove) or just somewhat (approve / disapprove)?
Q. In general, do you approve or disapprove of the job Governor Whitmer is doing as governor? [IF APPROVE / DISAPPROVE, ASK:] Would that be strongly (approve / disapprove) or just somewhat (approve / disapprove)?
MRG Michigan Poll® Spring 2025
The survey of 602 likely Michigan voters was conducted by live phone interview from March 24th- 28th 2025. The sample was randomly drawn from a listed sample of all registered voters with a history of voting and stratified by city and township to reflect voter turnout. Quotas for gender and cell phone interviews were met within each geographic area, and extra efforts were made to reach African Americans. Some columns or results may not add up to 100% because of rounding. Individual rounding may impact final totals. This survey yields a sampling margin of error of ±4 percent with a 96 percent confidence interval. The sampling margin of error for subgroups may be higher depending on the size of the subgroup.
About Marketing Resource Group (MRG)
Lansing, Michigan-based Marketing Resource Group (www.mrgmi.com) is an award-winning PR firm representing corporate, association, nonprofit, and private clients with interests in Michigan. MRG offers expertise in public affairs, communications, political campaign management, and public opinion survey research. For more than thirty years, MRG has conducted its bi-annual omnibus Michigan Poll®, tracking the pulse of Michigan voters on key statewide public policy and political issues. MRG is the only Michigan public opinion survey research firm that maintains nearly 40 years of trend analyses of voter attitudes related to state and national leaders, political parties, and the political and economic climate in Michigan. Follow MRG on X @mrgmichigan and on Facebook.
