Poll finds state split on virus reaction
Fears greater among poor, people of color
Worries about the coronavirus and support for continuing and even increasing state and local restrictions are highest among the state’s poor and communities of color, while concerns are far lower among white residents and the betteroff, according to a new poll.
“It’s a tale of two different Californias,” said Mark Baldassare, CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California and the poll’s director.
From the earliest days of the pandemic, the coronavirus has struck the Black and Latino communities hard, in the Bay Area, the state and the country. With people of color and lowincome residents more likely to work in jobs that require personal contact, concerns about the disease and the chance of infection are close to the surface.
While 28% of California adults overall are very concerned that they will be hospitalized because of the coronavirus, that number rises to 34% among those in
households making less than $40,000 a year, 48% among African Americans and 39% among Latinos, the institute’s poll found.
By contrast, only 17% of people in households making $80,000 or more are very concerned, along with 19% of white respondents. In the Bay Area, only 20% of all adults are very concerned, the lowest percentage of any part of the state.
The personal concerns are mirrored in people’s opinions about restrictions on public activity to control the virus. While only 34% of all California adults want tougher rules than the state or local governments now require, that number is 40% or higher among Latino, Black and Asian American respondents and people from households making less than $40,000, compared with 26% both among white respondents and those in the highest income level.
“We continue to see very large income, racial and ethnic disparities, as well as economic impacts,” Baldassare said. “The differences are stark. It’s evident that the desire to keep restrictions, despite the economic impacts, is because of the concern of those who have experienced the greatest impact” from the pandemic.
There’s a huge difference in the income hit that six months of coronavirus restrictions have delivered. While 46% of adults say their personal financial situation is either good or excellent, that drops to 22% among people in households making less than $40,000, 32% among Black residents and 29% among Latinos.
But 70% of those with family income above $80,000 say they are doing well, as do 56% of white respondents and 61% of Asian Americans. In the Bay Area, 54% of those surveyed say their finances are excellent or good.
The COVID19 crisis, the fires raging through the state and other concerns haven’t dampened the essential optimism of Californians. A 51% majority of adults believes the state is headed in the right direction, down from 58% in May. It’s communities of color that are most upbeat about the future, with 64% of Latinos, 57% of African Americans and 56% of Asian Americans pleased with the state’s progress.
That number drops to 14% among Republicans, 40% with independent voters and 41% among white residents.
Californians see a very different situation in the United States as a whole, however. Among likely voters, 60% of those surveyed see bad financial times ahead for the country in the next year. But that’s down from 70% in the May survey.
Republicans, at 54%, are the most likely to see improving times ahead, while Democrats (17%) and independents (36%) are much less optimistic about the future. The Bay Area, where only 32% see good times ahead, is the most pessimistic region of the state.
That contrast between the future prospects of the state and the nation shows up in the way Californians look at their political leaders, Baldassare said.
The numbers “are a reflection of state leadership versus federal leadership,” he said. “Voters have confidence in the leadership of their state.”
Less than a third of likely voters approve of the job President Trump is doing, and just 21% are pleased with what Congress has accomplished. The president’s approval ratings are underwater in every region of the state, ranging from a 56% disapproval rating in the Central Valley to a 75% unfavorable mark in the Bay Area.
Those numbers are echoed in the presidential polling, where 60% of likely voters back Democrat Joe Biden and 31% support Trump. Biden’s lead is narrowest in the Central Valley, where he holds just a onepoint edge over the president. In the Bay Area, it’s 71%18%.
But despite California’s widespread problems, likely voters approve of the job Gov. Gavin Newsom is doing by a 60%37% margin and back the Legislature’s actions, 45% to 43%. Asked about the governor’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, 62% like what he’s done.
Newsom’s numbers are impressive, especially during troubled times when people are often looking for someone to blame, Baldassare said.
“Newsom has faced a series of crises and his approval rating is staying high,” he said. “It’s a reflection of the fact that he’s been out there every day and people have seen him doing his job.”
The poll is based on a telephone survey of 1,704 California adults, including 1,168 likely voters, that was taken Sept. 413. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5% for the entire sample and plus or minus 4.3% for likely voters.