Editor’s Note: Andrew Smith, UNH Survey Center, is available for interviews at 603-343-7732 or Andrew.smith@unh.edu.
DURHAM, N.H.— As the country struggles to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of residents in New Hampshire disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling the situation. However, nearly three-quarters of the state approve of Governor Chris Sununu’s performance dealing with the outbreak in New Hampshire, according to the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
The recent survey found 57% of New Hampshire residents were disappointed with President Trump’s treatment of the current coronavirus crisis, with the vast majority strongly disapproving. Forty-one percent supported Trump’s actions while 1% neither agreed nor disagreed or didn’t know. In direct contrast, a vast majority of Granite Staters, 73%, were satisfied with Governor Sununu’s handling of the health crisis. Only 15% disapproved and 12% neither agreed not disagreed.
When it came to bipartisanship, Granite Staters were sharply divided by party in their assessment of Trump’s handling of the situation; nearly all Democrats (97%) disapproved and the vast majority of Republicans (88%) approved, while Independents are divided (43% approved and 48% disapproved).
The findings are based on a survey of 650 N.H. residents that completed the survey online between March 17 and March 25, 2020. The survey was conducted prior to Governor Sununu’s issuance of a “stay-at-home” order on March 26, 2020. Data were weighted by respondent sex, age, education, and region of the state to targets from the most recent American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, as well as party registration levels provided by the New Hampshire Secretary of State.
The survey takers were part of the Granite State Panel part of an effort by UNH’s Survey Center to investigate new ways of gathering and understanding the opinion of New Hampshire residents. Granite State Panel members are recruited from randomly-selected landline and cell phone numbers across New Hampshire and are sent surveys periodically.
The UNH Survey Center will be following New Hampshire attitudes during this health crisis and will be releasing more reports in coming weeks.
The University of New Hampshire inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation, and world. More than 16,000 students from all 50 states and 71 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top-ranked programs in business, engineering, law, health and human services, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. As one of the nation’s highest-performing research universities, UNH partners with NASA, NOAA, NSF and NIH, and receives more than $110 million in competitive external funding every year to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space.
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