Twenty-nine percent (29%) of voters now believe the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is behind us. A Ballotpedia survey found that 42% disagree and think the worst is still to come. Another 29% are not sure.
These are by far the most optimistic assessments of the situation found in months of regular polling on the topic.
- In mid-April, just 16% believed the worst was behind us while 60% feared it was still to come.
- Later in April, 23% held the optimistic view while 49% disagreed.
- However, in mid-May, confidence fell. The number thinking the worst was behind us fell to 17%. At the same time, the number fearing the worst was still to come jumped seven points to 56%.
Given this history, it’s too early to say whether the optimism will continue.
Throughout all the bouncing around, Republicans were always more optimistic than Democrats or Independents. That remains true today. By a 52% to 23% margin, Republicans believe the worst is behind us. Democrats, by a 56% to 14% margin, take the opposite view and believe the worst is still to come. Among Independents, 23% say it’s behind us while 42% worry that the worst is still to come.
Women, by a 2-to-1 margin, believe the worst is still to come. Men are evenly divided.
This data was featured in Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day on Ballotpedia. The Number of the Day has now expanded to a podcast format with a new release every weekday morning at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.
Ballotpedia is Documenting America’s Path to Recovery by providing comprehensive coverage on how the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is affecting America’s political and civic life. Click here to sign up for daily email updates.
Coverage includes how federal, state, and local governments are responding, and the effects those responses are having on campaigns and elections. We document the plans for recovery put forth by states, localities, and others in a way that allows citizens, policymakers, influencers, pundits, and the nation’s reporters to engage in fruitful comparisons about moving forward. We will curate the ongoing debates, as well as the political impact of the conversations.
SIGN UP to receive Scott’s free email newsletter.
CHECK OUT Scott’s latest polls.
Methodology
The survey of 1,200 Registered Voters was conducted by Scott Rasmussen using a mixed mode approach from June 4-6, 2020. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Most respondents were contacted online or via text while 246 were contacted using automated phone polling techniques. Certain quotas were applied, and the overall sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation’s population of Registered Voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population.
