VPR - Vermont PBS 2020 Polls: July

Do you approve of the job Gov. Phil Scott has done handling the COVID-19 pandemic? What about issues related to race in Vermont? Given the coronavirus, do you favor or oppose K-12 schools opening this fall? How much trust and confidence do you have in your local law enforcement?

The VPR-Vermont PBS 2020 Poll asked hundreds of Vermonters these questions and more. Find out where your neighbors stand on the issues.

Note: This is the second of three polls conducted in 2020 by VPR and Vermont PBS.

Q1. First, do you approve or disapprove of the job Governor Phil Scott has done managing the COVID-19 pandemic?

83% Approve
12% Disapprove
5% Not sure
1% Refused
603 Total Respondents

The full survey has a sampling error of 4%; this varies with the total respondents. See the Appendix below for the details on the sample and methods.

Q2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Governor Phil Scott has handled issues related to race in Vermont?

66% Approve
17% Disapprove
17% Not sure
603 Total Respondents

Q3. To what extent are you concerned about contracting COVID-19?

22% Very concerned
44% Somewhat concerned
23% Not too concerned
11% Not concerned at all
0% No opinion/Refused
603 Total Respondents

Q4. Do you personally know anyone who had contracted COVID-19?

40% Yes
60% No
0% Not Sure
0% Refused
603 Total Respondents

Q5. Would you support or oppose a statewide mandate to require wearing face masks in public?

76% Support
22% Oppose
2% Not sure/No opinion
0% Refuse
603 Total Respondents

Q6. To what extent are you concerned about people from out of state coming to Vermont who may spread the virus?

43% Very Concerned
34% Somewhat concerned
15% A little concerned
7% Not concerned at all
0% No opinion/Refuse
603 Total Respondents

Q7. How much of a threat, if any, is the COVID-19 outbreak for your personal financial situation?

26% A major threat
44% A minor threat
30% Not a threat at all
1% Not sure/Refused
603 Total Respondents

Q8a. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, have you experienced trouble sleeping?

30% Yes
70% No
0% Not sure
0% Refuse
603 Total Respondents

Q8b. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, have you experienced increased anxiety?

49% Yes
51% No
0% Refuse
603 Total Respondents

Q8c. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, have you experienced depression?

26% Yes
74% No
603 Total Respondents

Q8d. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, have you experienced loneliness?

30% Yes
69% No
0% Not sure
603 Total Respondents

Q9. Which statement more closely matches your view:
A. That the state of Vermont will open too quickly, risking greater harm to public health than necessary.
- OR -
B. That the state will not open quickly enough, risking greater harm to the economy than necessary.

56% Open too quickly
26% Not open quickly enough
14% Neither
3% No opinion
603 Total Respondents

Q10. Given the current state of the pandemic, do you favor or oppose re-opening K-12 schools this coming fall?

47% Favor
42% Oppose
11% Not sure/No opinion
1% Refused
603 Total Respondents

Q11. Given the current state of the pandemic, do you favor or oppose Vermont universities and colleges letting students come back to campus?

44% Favor
50% Oppose
6% Not sure/No opinion
0% Refused
603 Total Respondents

Q12. Considering the impact that the coronavirus has had on the Vermont state budget and the need to balance the budget, should the focus be more on cutting programs or on raising revenues?

28% More on cutting programs
54% More on raising revenues
10% Balance of both
3% Neither
6% No opinion
603 Total Respondents

Q13. How did you use the federal relief payment that was sent out to individuals? Did you use it to pay living expenses, to purchase something that you otherwise would not have purchased, save it, or did you do something else?

43% Cover expenses
5% Buy something new
25% Save it
10% Something else
16% Did not receive a payment
1% No opinion
603 Total Respondents

Q14. Did the relief payment you received from the federal government make a big difference to your family, a small difference, or virtually no difference at all?

33% Big difference
41% Small difference
25% No difference
1% Not sure
511 Total Respondents

Q15. How concerned are you about the future of small businesses in Vermont?

67% Very concerned
26% Somewhat concerned
4% Not too concerned
2% Not concerned at all
0% No opinion/refused
603 Total Respondents

Q16. How much trust and confidence do you have in your local law enforcement? This includes state and local police as well as county sheriffs.

34% A great deal of confidence
27% Quite a lot of confidence
28% Some confidence
7% Very little confidence
4% No confidence at all
0% No opinion/Refused
603 Total Respondents

Q17. Considering local and state level law enforcement in Vermont, to what extent, if any, do you think law enforcement in Vermont exhibit racial bias?

16% Police regularly discriminate against people of color
33% Police occasionally discriminate against people of color
29% Police rarely discriminate against people of color
15% Police never discriminate against people of color
6% Not sure/No opinion
1% Refuse
603 Total Respondents

Q18. To what extent do you think racism is a problem in Vermont today? Would you say it is a big problem, somewhat of a problem, a small problem, or no problem at all?

24% Big problem
35% Somewhat problem
25% Small problem
15% No problem
1% Not sure/No opinion
603 Total Respondents

Q19. Do you support or oppose the Black Lives Matter movement?

66% Support
25% Oppose
7% Neither support nor oppose
1% No opinion/Refused
603 Total Respondents

Q20. Just your best guess, what percentage of Vermonters do you think identify as non-white?

16.89% Mean
10.00% Median
603 Total Respondents

Q21. How often do you interact with others who do not share your racial identity?

42% Frequently
27% Occasionally
16% Seldom
13% Almost never
1% Not sure/Refused
603 Total Respondents

Q22. Did you see the video of the alleged murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer?

80% Yes
19% No
1% Don’t remember
603 Total Respondents

Q23. Thinking about racial and ethnic diversity, would you consider your community to be a place that is welcoming to diversity or not?

81% Welcoming
9% Not welcoming
8% It depends
2% Not sure
1% Refused
603 Total Respondents

• Full Results XLS: By Demographic (1st tab), Spending Stimulus (2nd tab), Saw Video of Floyd Death (3rd tab), Mask Mandate (4th tab) and Emotional Impact (5th tab)
• Appendix A: Methodology
  Table 1: Sampling Error
  Table 2: Representativeness of Weighted Data
  Appendix B: Survey Instrument
  

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Credit

The VPR - Vermont PBS 2020 Poll is a collaboration between Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS and was made possible by our supporters. Braun Research conducted the poll under the direction of Dr. Richard Clark.