June 29- Biden Lead Drops Among Likely Voters, Economic Fears Increase Over Past Two Weeks, 0ptimus Poll Finds
Biden’s edge among likely voters has dipped, and we now have him ahead just 45%-41%, with an additional 6% saying they plan to vote for a different candidate and an additional 9% undecided. Among all adults, Biden maintains a 10-point edge.
Among self-identified Democrats, Biden leads 88-4 while Trump leads 86-6 among Republicans. Independents are split, with Trump and Biden each earning 34% support. Perhaps notably, 17% of Independents say they are undecided.
CORONAVIRUS JOB APPROVAL
Voters remain generally supportive of their governors’ actions around the coronavirus outbreak, with 63% approving of their handling of the outbreak nationwide. Notably, this is consistent across regional breakdowns, with no region falling below the 60% mark. Northeasterners demonstrate more intense support, with 35% strongly approving of their governor, compared to 27% in the West, 25% in the Midwest, and 25% in the South.
The federal government receives lower marks: 45% of likely voters approve of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, and only 41% approve of Congress’ handling. Trump’s overall job approval rating tracks his performance on the outbreak well, with 46% overall job approval.
ECONOMIC VIEWS
Despite states re-opening in phases over the past several weeks, voters are generally not optimistic about the current state of the economy and the near-future outlook. Only 31% of likely voters rate the current economic conditions as “excellent” or “good,” with 40% describing them as “only fair” and an additional 29% saying they are “poor.” Economic perceptions seem to be molded by partisanship, as 50% of Republicans but only 15% of Democrats say the economy is currently “excellent” or “good.”
Looking ahead over the next month, fortunes seem to have turned over the past two weeks. While our early June polling consistently saw a rising number of individuals believe that the economy would improve over the next month, we now observe a drop. Twenty-nine percent of likely voters say they expect the economy to improve over the next month, compared to 38% who expect it to get worse and 26% who expect it to be about the same. Similarly, 28% say the U.S. is heading in the right direction.
CORONAVIRUS CONCERNS
Concerns about contracting coronavirus have been stable over the past two months. 65% of adults say they are “very worried” or “somewhat worried” about themselves or a family member contracting the virus. Concern is highest among minority groups (76% of Hispanics, 65% of African Americans, and 69% of other minorities).
SOCIAL DISTANCING
A majority of adults (54%) say they always wear a mask or face covering when going out in public, though 18% say they rarely or never wear masks. In our first survey to ask about mask usage on May 30th, 48% said they always wore masks. Seventy-one percent of Democrats but only 42% of Republicans say they always wear masks.
Forty-five percent of adults report having ordered to-go or delivery from a restaurant in the past week, a downtick from two weeks ago when 55% reported the same. At the same time, 26% report having dined-in at a restaurant in the past week, compared to 22% two weeks ago.
Full toplines, crosstabs, and methodology information can be found on our Github repository.