Poll finds voters in Florida, other battleground states most worried about health

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Voters in Florida and five other battleground states now are far more concerned about health than about wealth, and the percentage who are “very concerned” about the novel coronavirus has tripled in a months’ time, according to a new poll released Tuesday by CNBC and Change Research.

The pollsters surveyed 2,448 likely general election voters in Florida, Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin April 2-3 on their thoughts, beliefs, experiences, and policy preferences with respect to the coronavirus crisis.

The poll, taken as the coronavirus pandemic consumed the nation, found that 82% of respondents in battleground states say that their main concern now is the health of their family, while just 18% say they are most concerned about their family’s finances.

That’s compared to a similar poll taken March 10-11, when respondents were markedly more concerned with their wealth than their health.

Among other findings in what was a wide-ranging survey:

– 91% approve of continuing social distancing.

– 84% are worried about someone in their family getting COVID-19, while 66% are worried about losing wages,  58% are worried about losing money in their investments, and 40% are worried about losing jobs.

– 65% said they are seriously concerned about the coronavirus, compared to just 20% of voters in the March survey.

 – 63% are worried about health care costs.

– 49% remain confident about the economy within a year, while 51% are not confident.

– 41% believe they are financially unprepared for the economic impact of coronavirus, and 30% of voters already report having lost wages due to coronavirus.

– Just 35% of respondents in battleground states think the U.S. economy is “good” or “excellent,” compared to 57% in March 2020.

The pollsters also asked respondents how they feel about the federal and state government responses to the coronavirus crisis.

Floridians are the least satisfied within the six states.

According to the poll, 69% of Floridians describe the state’s response under Gov. Ron DeSantis as “not aggressive enough,” and 63% describe the federal government’s response under President Donald Trump as “not aggressive enough.”

Just 23% of Floridians believe the state’s response has been “just right” and only 30% believe that about the federal response.

The only swing state in which voters were satisfied with their state government’s response was North Carolina, though voters in Michigan and Pennsylvania were pretty evenly split on the question.

No swing state showed voters satisfied with the federal response.

In Pennsylvania, 60% believe it has not been aggressive enough; in Michigan, 59% believe that; in North Carolina, 54% believe that. In Arizona, only 48% say the response has not been aggressive enough, but only 32% believe it has been just right.

Whom do voters in battleground states trust? When asked to rate various people, the voters gave these answers:

– Doctors and nurses in general received a 96% approval rating.

– Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, received a 90% approval rating.

– Trump received a 49% approval rating.

– The federal government received a 48% approval rating.

– New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo received a 60% approval rating.