HAMDEN, Conn. — Vice President Joe Biden (46%) and President Donald Trump (45%) are running neck and neck in Ohio, according to a Quinnipiac University poll that asked voters about topics ranging from the presidential race, Gov. Mike DeWine, police and coronavirus.
“You have to go back 60 years to find an election where Ohio was not a lynchpin or a pathway to the presidency. That is why this very close horse race is so deeply consequential. The mantra in the backrooms of GOP and Democratic campaign headquarters has to be ‘Don’t lose Ohio!’” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said.
The 1,139 self-identified registered voters in Ohio were surveyed from June 18 – 22. The margin of error is +/- 2.9 percentage points.
Presidential Race
When it comes to party lines, Republicans favored Trump 92-5% while Democrats favored Biden 93-3%.
Biden has a larger percentage of women in favor of him than Trump, with 53-37%. Biden also leads Trump with Black voters by a margin with 81-8%.
Trump does have some areas where he beats Biden in the polls, and that is with white voters. Trump is in their favor with 50-42 %. He also leads 56-35% with white voters who don’t have a college degree.
When it comes to white voters with formal education, Biden beats trump by nearly the same margin with 57-36% in favor of the former vice president.
The poll also asked voters who would do better on handling various issues such as race relations and the economy.
According to the poll, Trump leads with the economy at 53% versus Biden’s 43%. When it comes to race relations, Biden is once again on top with 54% of the vote compared to Trump's 38%.
Biden also tops Trump in other categories such as response to the coronavirus, with Biden at 50% and Trump at 43%.
Biden also trumped Trump in the poll when it came to health care. Fifty-one percent of voters favored Biden while only 43% favored the president.
When it comes to handling a “crisis,” Biden leads Trump 50-46%.
For job approval, 44% of people polled say they approved of Trump’s job performance, while 53% of people disapproved. This time last year, Trump had nearly the same numbers with 43% of people polled approving of him while 52% didn’t.
Gov. Mike DeWine
When asked their thoughts on Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a record 75% said they approved of him. DeWine’s rating has skyrocketed since July 2019, when it sat at 44% of Ohioans approving of him.
According to the poll, DeWine’s current approval status is at an all-time high for any Ohio governor in all of Quinnipiac University’s polls dating back to 2007.
It’s not just Republicans who have voiced approval for DeWine. He has very high approval from voters across the aisle as well as from independent voters. In fact, DeWine’s highest approval comes from Democrats.
Right now, DeWine is at the following approval rating with the following voter groups:
- Republicans – 76%
- Democrats – 81%
- Independents – 74%
“A Republican governor is far more popular than the Republican president in a state the country will have laser focus on when the polls start shutting down on election night, November the 3rd,” Malloy said.
Coronavirus
Specifically relating to the pandemic, 77-20% approved of DeWine. By comparison, Trump’s approval rating for his handling of COVID-19 sits at 43% approving and 54% disapproving.
When asked about their thoughts on the possibility of a second wave of infection, 70% of voters said that it is “very” or “somewhat” likely that COVID-19 could impact Ohio again enough to close the state a second time.
Keeping that in mind, according to the poll, 52-39% of voters said they feel that it is safe for college-age students to return to school in the fall. Forty-nine percent of voters said they think it will be safe for elementary, middle and high school students back to class in the fall. Forty-two percent said they felt it would be unsafe.
The Confederacy
Polling numbers show that Ohioans are opposed to tearing down Confederate Army statues 51-44%.
Another 54% said they oppose renaming military bases that were named after Confederate generals.
Some 52% said they support banning Confederate flags from public spaces.
Police issues
The poll shows that 82% said they approve of how police in their respective communities are doing their job. At a state level, 72% of people polled said they approve of how police across Ohio are doing their jobs.
According to the poll, when asked about whether being the victim of police violence is something they worry about, 82% of voters said they did not, while 18% said they did.
Those numbers changed dramatically when broken down by race. While 9% of white voters said they worried about being a victim of police violence, 60% of Black voters said they did.
Overall, 57% of voters polled said they “oppose cutting some funding for police departments in their community and shifting it to social services.” Thirty-nine percent said they support it.
When asked about entirely eliminating their local police department and replacing it with a new one, 82% opposed it.
More information about the poll can be found here.
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