The economy is voters’ No. 1 priority heading toward Election Day, supplanting healthcare as the top campaign issue amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has cost more than 100,000 people in the United States their lives, according to a new poll.
The Optimus online survey of likely voters, conducted for Firehouse Strategies May 16-23, found 31% prioritizing the economy in the race between President Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, with 22% naming healthcare as their top issue. In late March, those numbers were reversed. Then, at the very beginning of what was essentially a nationwide coronavirus lockdown, 33% of voters prioritized healthcare, and 21% said the economy was their top concern.
At 48%, Trump’s approval rating for his handling of the pandemic is a notch above his average overall job approval rating, which usually fluctuates from the low-40s to mid-40s. But it ranks well below the average coronavirus approval rating for the nation’s governors, which clocked in at 72% in this national poll.
Also in this survey, Biden led Trump 54% to 43%, although the president’s position in the battleground states that will decide the election is significantly better in state-by-state polling. Some Democrats fear that a campaign that revolves around the economy could benefit Trump if the pandemic recedes and the jobs market improves in the fall. The Optimus poll methodology does not report a traditional margin of error.
[Related: Trump’s silver lining — economic numbers could be surging by Election Day]
