Most North Carolinians don’t want a quick reopening during COVID-19 crisis, poll finds
North Carolinians are “very cautious about reopening” and support extensions of Gov. Roy Cooper’s stay-at-home orders, despite protests over the coronavirus response, according to a recent poll.
The Meredith College Poll found that the majority of citizens do not want to quickly return to everyday activities like eating at restaurants, going out to bars or getting their hair cut at a salon. Nearly 75% said they don’t want public schools reopened this year.
North Carolinians support Gov. Cooper’s more measured plans for the state’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis even as protesters demand restrictions be lifted, according to David McLennan, director of the Meredith Poll.
“Despite the claims of groups like ReOpenNC and President Trump about reopening the economy and getting back to normal, most North Carolinians are paying attention to public health professionals and seeing the impact of coronavirus firsthand,” McLennan said in a statement. “As such, they are very cautious about resuming pre-COVID-19 activities.”
Reopening North Carolina’s economy
More than 75% of respondents support Gov. Cooper’s extension of the stay-at-home order until May 8. That majority support included people from different political parties, all age groups, rural and urban communities and those with low and high incomes, according to the poll.
The poll was conducted after Cooper closed schools for the remainder of the year, but the survey asked about the closure through May 15, which nearly 80% supported. And 72% did not think schools should reopen after that date.
About 25% of parents with school-age children said they would not send their children back to school even if they reopened.
Support for school closures also came from all demographic groups, according to the poll.
North Carolinians have been under a stay-at-home order for more than a month and, despite protests from some residents, most are cautious about returning to life before the pandemic.
About 28% say they would go to a dine-in restaurant if the executive order were rescinded today and and 9% say they would go to a bar.
People are more eager to get a haircut and go to NC beaches, with just over a third of respondents supporting each of those activities.
It appears people are still satisfied with at-home workouts, playing in the yard and watching movies on Netflix at home. About 14% of respondents say they would exercise at a gym, 12% percent would take their children to a park and 17% would go to a movie theater.
The online survey asked 604 registered North Carolina voters about these issues from April 27-28, 2020. The margin of error is +/-4%.
How are politicians handling the situation?
Voters were asked about how leaders in the state and federal governments are handling the pandemic. The majority of them trust Gov. Cooper to make decisions over President Donald Trump, according to the poll.
Nearly two-thirds (63%) would rather have Gov. Cooper decide when people should return to work and other activities. About 26% preferred that it be up to President Trump.
“President Trump’s mixed messages about the pandemic and his failure to follow the advice of public health professionals at times stands in sharp contrast to Governor Cooper’s more consistent message about the crisis and his reliance on scientists and doctors in shaping public policy,” McLennan said.
These results did split along party lines.
A majority of Republicans, about 58%, want President Trump to handle the reopening of the economy. But most Democrats (87%) and independents (67%) would rather have Cooper making the calls.
Cooper’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in his approval ratings to about 63%, according to the poll. Approval ratings for President Trump, on the other hand, have fall to about 41%, according to the poll.
“The federal government’s response to the pandemic has caused North Carolinians to question President Trump’s job performance,” McLennan said. “This is especially challenging for the president during an election year.”
Democrats lead polls for 2020 election
There’s more than six months until Election Day, but Democratic candidates are ahead of their Republican opponents in the race for president, governor and the U.S. Senate, according to the poll results.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leads President Trump 47.4% to 40.4% in the survey.
Incumbent Democrat Gov. Cooper leads his Republican challenger, Lt. Governor Dan Forest, at 52% to 32.1%.
Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham leads incumbent Republican Senator Thom Tillis 43.5% to 34.3%.
Trump’s drop in approval ratings is hurting him in the campaign against Biden and the Republicans down ballot, according to McLennan. But he said there’s still a lot of time before the election and the 2020 races are expected to be very competitive.
Election Day could look different this year as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread and states are considering how safe voting in person will be.
If going to polls is deemed unsafe, North Carolina could rely on mail-in ballots.
Overall, most voters support voting by mail, about 62%. But nearly half (48%) wouldn’t be confident in the results.
North Carolina has used the mail-in process for absentee voting for years, McLennan said, but many people don’t trust that system. He said those questions could be because of the absentee ballot fraud committed in 2018’s House District 9 race.
