VPR – Vermont PBS Poll – July 2018

What issues are top of mind for voters this election year? How do Vermonters rate President Trump and Governor Scott? How do they feel about the new gun control law?

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

This is the first of two polls conducted by VPR & Vermont PBS in 2018. This poll was conducted in July. To view the second poll, conducted in October 2018, visit this site.

What do you think is the most important problem facing the state of Vermont today?

27%  The Economy, Jobs & Cost Of Living11%  Taxes3%   Education & Schools5%   Health Care3%   Wages & Workplace Issues2%   Guns & Gun Control19%  Drugs & Opiate Addiction2%   Marijuana Legalization5%   Troubled Politics & Leadership4%   Environmental Issues, Climate Change & Renewable Energy1%   Clean Water Issues4%   National Politics1%   Infrastructure2%   Demographics4%   Other5%   Don’t Know603  Total Respondents

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as President?

28%   Approve61%   Disapprove10%   Not Sure/No Opinion0%    Refused603   Total Respondents

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Phil Scott is handling his job as Governor of Vermont?

43%   Approve28%   Disapprove29%   Not Sure/No Opinion1%    Refused603   Total Respondents

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bernie Sanders is handling his job as one of Vermont’s U.S. Senators?

66%   Approve24%   Disapprove10%   Not Sure/No Opinion0%    Refused603   Total Respondents

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Patrick Leahy is handling his job as one of Vermont’s U.S. Senators?

53%   Approve19%   Disapprove28%   Not Sure/No Opinion0%    Refused603   Total Respondents

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Peter Welch is handling his job as Vermont’s Congressional Representative?

47%   Approve17%   Disapprove35%   Not Sure/No Opinion0%    Refused603   Total Respondents

For each name, please state if have a favorable opinion, unfavorable opinion, or if you have not heard of the person:

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Democrats in the state legislature handled the budget negotiations?

32%   Approve33%   Disapprove35%   Not Sure/No Opinion1%    Refused603   Total Respondents

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Republicans in the state legislature handled the budget negotiations?

26%   Approve36%   Disapprove37%   Not Sure/No Opinion1%    Refused603   Total Respondents

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Governor Phil Scott handled the budget negotiations?

36%   Approve34%   Disapprove30%   Not Sure/No Opinion0%    Refused603   Total Respondents

When it comes to managing the cost per student in Vermont schools, who do you think can do a better job: the state government or local government?

23%   State Government50%   Local Government5%    Neither9%    Both5%    It Depends7%    Not Sure/No Opinion603   Total Respondents

This past term, the Vermont legislature passed a law to require background checks for all gun sales, limit the size of ammunition magazines, ban bump stocks, and raise the legal age for gun purchases to 21 years old. Do you favor or oppose this legislation?

45%   Completely Favor22%   Generally Favor6%    Neither favor not oppose13%   Generally oppose12%   Completely oppose2%    Refused603   Total Respondents

In general, do you think that students in Vermont schools are completely safe, mostly safe, or not safe at school from incidents like the Parkland, Florida school shooting?

8%    Completely safe69%   Mostly safe19%   Not safe4%    Refused603   Total Respondents

Do you think that immigration controls on the border between Vermont and Canada are too strict, too loose, or just about right?

16%   Too strict56%   Just about right11%   Too loose6%    It depends11%   Refused603   Total Respondents

Would you favor raising the state minimum wage from the current $10.50 to eventually reach $15, favor raising the state minimum wage to reach something above $10.50 but less than $15, or oppose any increase in the minimum wage at all?

54%   Favor raising to $1525%   Favor raising to value less than $1515%   Oppose raising minimum wage2%    Favor raising to value above $151%    Oppose any minimum wage4%    Refused603   Total Respondents

How likely are you to use marijuana for recreational purposes in the next year? Would you say very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely, or not likely at all?

18%   Very likely9%    Somewhat likely14%   Not too likely56%   Not likely at all/Definitely will not2%    Don’t know1%    Refused603   Total Respondents

Is the fact that you are very or somewhat likely to use marijuana in the coming year due to the fact that the Vermont legislature legalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use, or is that law irrelevant to your decision?

23%   Because of law73%   Irrelevant4%    Don’t know/Refused148   Total Respondents

While the current law allows Vermonters to possess marijuana, it does not allow the retail sale of pot. In your opinion, should the state of Vermont allow the retail sale of marijuana for personal use or not?

56%    Yes, allow retail31%    No, do not allow8%     It depends5%     Don’t Know/Refused603    Total Respondents

In general, how often do you use a hand-held phone while driving in Vermont? Would you say…

5%    Often7%    Sometimes24%   Rarely63%   Never1%    It depends1%    Don’t Know/Refused603   Total Respondents

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

68%   Welcoming12%   Not welcoming11%   It depends8%    Not sure0%    Refused603   Total Respondents

Have you or someone you know been personally affected by opiate addiction?

47%   Yes50%   No2%    Not sure1%    Refused603   Total Respondents

• Full Results (XLS)By Gender, Party and RegionBy Education & AgeBy Voter Registration & Time Living in Vermont
• Appendix A: MethodologyTable 1: Sampling ErrorTable 2: Representativeness of weighted dataAppendix B: Survey Instrument

Attribution

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Credit

The VPR – Vermont PBS 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.