NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Two recent looks at how Tennesseans view President Donald Trump point in different directions as early voting continues ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Tracking from the online pollster Civiqs, last updated Oct. 19, has the president slightly underwater in the state. In mid-October, 44% of residents approved of his job performance, 48% disapproved and 8% were neutral, which works out to a net rating of minus 3. His numbers have ticked up a little recently but are still below even.
That is a sharp turn for a state Trump carried easily. His net approval in the Civiqs tracking stood at plus 24 when he took office and slid to plus 7 by late 2025. It has stayed at or below plus 5 since May 5, and Trump first went negative in Tennessee on Aug. 18. The widest gap so far came on Sept. 12, at minus 4.
A separate statewide survey from Spry Strategies paints a brighter picture for the president. Among 635 likely voters contacted Oct. 10 through 16, the firm found 54.1% approving of the job Trump is doing and 44.5% disapproving. The margin of error is roughly 3.89 points either way.
The two measures are not built the same way. The Spry survey screened for people likely to vote, while the Civiqs tracking reflects a broader group of residents. Likely voter samples in Tennessee tend to lean more Republican than the adult population as a whole.
The Civiqs breakdown shows the familiar divides. Younger adults ages 18 to 34 were the most negative at 64% unfavorable, while people 65 and up gave him his best marks, at 59% favorable. About three in four Republicans approved, while nearly all Democrats and 59% of independents disapproved.
Early voting in Tennessee opened Oct. 14 and runs through Oct. 29. The ballot includes races for governor, a U.S. Senate seat, all nine U.S. House seats and the state legislature, plus three proposed amendments to the state constitution.
Section: More Chattanooga TN politics news
Filed under: Chattanooga TN Politics News
