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WaPo-Ipsos Poll: PA Continues to Back Wolf COVID Approach

According to a new Washington Post-Ipsos poll, approval ratings for President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 response fall largely upon partisan lines, while Gov. Tom Wolf receives the full backing of Democrats and half of Republicans. 

One doesn’t need to look further than the partisan split between approval ratings of how Gov. Tom Wolf has handled COVID-19 in comparison to President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. 

91% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents in Pennsylvania approve of the way that their governor has handled the coronavirus pandemic, while just 9% disapprove. 51% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents approve of the way Wolf has handled the coronavirus pandemic, while 49% disapprove. 

When Pennsylvanians were asked about Trump’s approval rating on the matter, the results shifted back to a more partisan response. 87% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents in Pennsylvania approve of Trump’s handling of COVID-19, while 13% disapprove. Just 14% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents approve of Trump’s handling of COVID-19, while 85% disapprove. 

Overall, 72% of Pennsylvanians support their governor’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, while 27% disapprove, leaving Wolf with a 45 point net approval rating on the matter. 45% of Pennsylvanians support Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, while 54% disapprove, resulting in the president holding a -9 point net approval rating on the issue. 

The poll included three additional questions that also portray the unity among Democrats on the matter and split between Republicans. 

62% of Republican and Republican-leaning independents in PA believe that their governor is doing enough to ensure people can return to work safely, while 37% believe Wolf is not doing enough. 77% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents believe Wolf is doing enough to ensure people can return to work safely, while 22% believe he isn’t doing enough.

Overall, Wolf receives nearly identical high marks on this issue with 71% of Pennsylvanians believing that he is doing enough to ensure people can return to work safely, while 28% believe he isn’t doing enough. 

The answers for Trump once again shift back to typical partisan lines. 

85% of Republican and Republican-leaning independents in PA believe that Trump is doing enough to ensure people can return to work safely, while 15% believe he isn’t doing enough. Just 10% of Democrats in the state believe that Trump is doing enough to ensure people can return to work safely, while 89% believe the president isn’t doing enough.

Trump’s net approval rating for this response was also under water. 43% said that Trump is doing enough to ensure people can return to work safely, while 56% believe that he isn’t doing enough. 

The following question didn’t include Trump, but instead asked about how the state government has applied restrictions to business activity in response to COVID-19 and shows Democrats united and Republicans torn on the issue. 

46% of Republican and Republican-leaning independents in PA believe that the state government is not lifting restrictions quickly enough, while 42% believe that the state government is handling the matter about right, and 12% saying that the state is lifting restrictions too quickly. 

75% of Democrat and Democrat-leaning independents in PA believe that the state government is handling business activity about right, while 22% believe that they are lifting restrictions too quickly. 

Overall, 59% of Pennsylvanians believe that the state government is handling business activity about right, while 23% think the state is not lifting restrictions quickly enough, and 17% said that the state is lifting restrictions too quickly. 

The final question shifted away from state government and back to how the nation as a whole should deal with the balance of slowing the spread of coronavirus vs how to get the economy going again. This question also showed Republicans divided and Democrats united. 

52% of Republican and Republican-leaning independents in PA said that the U.S. should keep trying to slow the spread of the coronavirus, even if it means keeping businesses closed, while 46% believe the nation should open up businesses and get the economy going again, even if that means more people would get the coronavirus.

91% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents said that the U.S. should keep trying to slow the spread of the coronavirus, even if it means keeping businesses closed, while just 8% believe the nation should open up businesses and get the economy going again, even if that means more people would get the coronavirus. 

Overall, 71% of Pennsylvanians said that U.S. should keep trying to slow spread of the coronavirus, even if that means keeping many businesses closed, while 28% said the nation should open up businesses and get the economy going again, even if that means more people would get the coronavirus. 

This poll, surveying 388 Pennsylvania adults, collected data online between April 27-May 4, 2020, has a margin of error of +/-5.5 percent.

The full crosstabs can be found here.

25 Responses

  1. You are so wrong on the nursing homes. It’s obvious that older folks are more susceptible but to say he’s ignoring them is, well…ignorant. And, please, stop with socialism horse manure. It’s been piled up way too high this year. As for the rest of your drivel, it’s not worth responding to.

  2. You want to call the shots then win the election! Gov Wolf being called names because he was trying enforce concern for the health of the citizens of Pennsylvania is wrong. Then what was worse was that absolutely dumb idea by the State Senate Republicans saying county commissioners should declare reopening instead of the Gov of Pa. That is wacky. It seems that 82,000 passing from the virus and Pa being among states deeply affected by the virus would clue some of these Republican politicians into the face that we are in the midst of a once in a 100 year viral pandemic and political football is not on the agenda. Gov Wolf rightly saw this as a health matter and not a political matter.

    1. Governor Wolf has IGNORED nursing homes where 63% of the deaths have occurred. He knows if he openly reports these numbers, PA residents will begin to wonder about the restrictions. If you stay closed, Pelosi has time to push for more Socialism. If the economy is poor, people are unemployed and schools are closed- the Trump is a failure. That’s the whole play. How could anyone not realize that all of this is an attack to make sure Trump does not win in November. I don’t believe the polling anyway- but I think it’s funny that anyone would print how Republicans in PA support Wolf- never happen. Wolf has his followers of stupid liberals who believe this virus is really awful. It’s not. It’s a wonderful opportunity to push an agenda at any cost to America.

        1. Anyone that cashed that check with Trumps name on it is a SOCIALIST. Welcome to Russia comrades. And it was brought to you by Trump and Moscow Mitch.

    2. No what was dumb was Wolf being so slow to open. The country commissioners should be making the call, not Herr Wolf in his little dictator office in Harrisburg.

      Wolf has no idea about health. He made this all about politics.

      What a terrible job he has done

        1. Over 70 percent of the 322 people surveyed. In case you don’t r alize, we have over ten million residents. That makes the number surveyed less than one percent. So he has an approval rating of 70% with less than 1% of the population of PA. Sample size is very important in statistics.

  3. Who is on the ropes, now, Mike Jones and all the Republican Central Pa County Commissioners, Sheriffs and DA’s? The US Supreme Court backed the shutdown order of Gov. Wolf! Quit your pandering.

    1. No, they are not. They are rightly doing what needs to be done, while Wolf prances at press conferences.

      The SC did nothing of the sort BTW. They decline to address it.

  4. Latest report by who? Gov. Wolf said Monday that he specifically would not be encouraging the Attorney General to prosecute businesses. There’s video of this. Stop spreading misinformation.

  5. It only seems like the Reopen crowd is so large because they’re the only ones dumb enough to stand outside in the middle of a pandemic. The rest of us have decided to listen to medical experts.

    1. While I think the protesting is not the best route, I encourage people to find the reasoning behind the Governor’s “plan”.
      There really has not been much explanation or direction for businesses to plan.
      If you think continuing to watch businesses go bankrupt and permanently shutter their doors is ok, I would be happy to hear how this is going to pan out for the best of this no win situation.

      However, the plan was to “Shelter in place” until our Healthcare facilities could manage this. We appear to have flattened the curve and are bending it down. Now would be the time to tell people to open businesses while remaining socially distant.

      Continuing to remain in the red without details seems to be the issue and conveying that plan to the public whose financial backs are broken would go a long way to alleviate the dissension.

      1. CARES law spent $3 TRILLION which equals $23,000 per person in USA. Did you get your $23,000?
        Hell no, and you won’t. It all went to big business and rich people, who did not need it and are now laying off workers by the thousands. GOP lets no opportunity pass to fleece the workers and transfer wealth to the already rich.

        1. For the record, we have more than just Republicans in Congress. It took both sides plus Trump to sign those bills into law. And, if memory serves me correctly, they were started by Democrats.

    2. Reopening is, at least in my reading of the situation, trumpeted by some with the attitude of the worst is over and the curve flattened and time to move on. Look at the graphs on cable news. Pa is among the states deeply affected by the virus. There is no vaccine. It is hard on the elderly and Pa has lots of old folks. The virus is tough on folks with high blood pressure and lung disease and lots of those people are in Pa. Then you consider 10% of the population has been infected so you have the virus spreading around the state with lots more to infect and this qualifies as a serious health crisis in Pa. Gov Wolf is doing a good job.

      1. People think this current approach is worse than the low mortality rate we have achieved by allowing the Healthcare system to get their feet under them. Closing the world leads to far worse implications.

        There needs to be an approach that allows the virus to spread slowly, but allows the economy to continue. There is no way we can continue with no economy or with no restrictions to prevent rampant spreading. But shutting down an economy and locking people in leads to poverty, suicide, drug abuse, domestic abuse, alcohol abuse, and 20 years of financial ruin of our municipalities, state, and federal govt finances. This all leads to questionable societal stability, to say nothing of the constitutional rights of citizens- regardless of what the Supreme Court says.

        1. So you are beginning to understand the horrible effects of Donald Trump’s utter failure to respond timely and appropriately to the pandemic.

          1. Gulag, your responses are too thoroughly tainted by political slant. You refuse to think clearly and objectively. While reading your responses on this site, it is clear no one should believe a thing you say.

    3. The same experts who have been wrong and wrong again?

      No, we listen to science, and the science says open.

  6. Is the Governor becoming unhinged?

    Latest report is he will “tell” the Atty General to prosecute if DA’s don’t, those businesses that open in violation of his dictates.

    AG Shapiro is a statewide elected independent official. He wont let the Gov “tell” him anything!

  7. Oh definitely I believe a communist newspaper. they don’t hate Trump or Republicans why would they ever inflate a Democrats popularity?

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