National Poll on Coronavirus

Change Research National Poll: April 13-15, 2020

Key Findings

Worry level differs sharply by racial group, and economic stress is much more pronounced among black and Latinx voters

Majority of voters still disapprove of Trump’s handling of COVID-19

Voters believe Governors, not Trump, have authority to reopen their states

Change Research surveyed 1,349 likely general election voters between April 13-15, 2020 on their thoughts, beliefs, experiences, and policy preferences with respect to the coronavirus crisis.

COVID-19 and Voters of Color

Worry level differs sharply by racial group. 16% of white voters rate their worry level as a 10 out of 10; by contrast, 43% of black and Latinx voters are a 10 out of 10 on the worry scale.

Economic stress is much more pronounced among black and Latinx voters. By a factor of 2-3x, black and Latinx voters express more economic stress than white voters. The top concerns among black and Latinx voters are ability to pay bills, afford groceries, the prospect of losing their savings, and losing their health insurance. White voters are concerned most with the national debt.

Perception’s of Trump’s Leadership

Majority of voters still disapprove of Trump’s handling of COVID-19. Overall, 56% of voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, and 44% approve, on par with his ratings from our last poll conducted two weeks ago.

Voters believe Governors, not Trump, have authority to reopen their states. At a briefing on Monday night, President Trump falsely asserted that he had “total authority” to order states to end their stay at home orders and shutdowns. Voters disagree: just 22% of respondents believe this power lies with President Trump, whereas 69% believe this power lies with the governor of each state. Even a near majority (48%) of Republicans believe this power belongs to governors, not to the President.

This crisis is without precedent and circumstances are changing quickly. We will be tracking many of these trends over time as they unfold, and will provide additional insights or recommendations as they surface in our data.

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Sample & Methodology

Change Research surveyed 1,349 likely general election voters nationwide from April 13-15, 2020. The margin of error as traditionally calculated is ±3.4%. Change Research reaches voters via targeted online ads that point people to an online survey instrument. Our Dynamic Online Sampling establishes and continuously rebalances advertising targets across region, age, gender, race, and partisanship to dynamically deliver large samples that accurately reflect the demographics of a population. Post-stratification was done on age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, region, and 2016 presidential vote.

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