Gov. Kate Brown’s approval has risen after a year in which she led the state through a pandemic, resulting in recession, racial protests, violent far-right and anarchist protests and historic wildfires, a new poll shows.
Even before the unprecedented challenges of the past year, voters in largely blue Oregon gave the Democratic governor surprisingly bad reviews: her negative position was 54% in a DHM Research Portland survey in October 2019.
In the early days of the pandemic, Oregonians’ view of the governor improved significantly and her approval rating reached its highest water level at 54%, according to a survey by DHM Research a year ago.
A new poll, conducted in early March and launched by DHM Research on Thursday, found that rosy views were completely eroded. Only 37% of the participants had a positive view of the governor and 57% had a negative view of her. Both voting and non-voting adults were included in the poll, which includes a sample of a cross-section of Oregonians.
The governor’s earlier decision to prioritize shots for teachers over protecting older Oregonians living outside care facilities could damage her reputation. Oregonians were evenly divided, 46% to 45%, on that call. More than half of respondents with school-age children support Brown’s decision, but only 41% of people 65 and older agree.
Sixty-five percent of the people in the survey approved the governor’s decision to order all schools to resume personal classes for basic students by March 29. Two-thirds also indicated that they prefer the governor’s position to give some space on the basis of the local school board. decisions and trade union negotiations.
Oregonians were largely divided over whether the state was heading in the right direction, with 45% saying the Portland poll Oregon was on the wrong track and 40% saying the state was heading in the right direction. The split was more sharply divided by the party this month than at any time during the pandemic, DHM findings showed, with 68% of Democrats saying Oregon is in the right direction, but only 19% of Republicans said so .
Pollsters have asked a wide range of other questions, including whether or not the Oregonians approve a number of proposals the legislature is considering, and whether the six congressional seats the state is likely to have after the redistribution with the new U.S. census, Democratic or must be Republican. .
Surprisingly, a number of voters across party lines said – exactly half of the congressional districts should support Democrats and exactly half of Republicans. A majority – 56% – said both parties should have at least two districts that are likely to send a member of their party to Congress. This is very different from the status quo, in which only one of Oregon’s five representatives is a Republican.
The online survey was conducted from March 7 to 14 and involved 600 Oregonians aged 18 and older. Their political affiliations, gender and other demographics were weighed to represent the population of the state. It has an error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
DHM Research, a non-partisan firm, conducted the survey at its own expense as a public service.
Among the more surprising results of the survey was the support for two proposals that have little momentum in the legislature, a plan to raise millions of dollars for the prevention and treatment of drug abuse by increasing alcohol taxes, and a bill to increase the minimum wage nationwide to $ 17 per hour.
House Bill 3296, originally sponsored by Representative Tawna Sanchez, D-Portland, and Representative Rachel Prusak, D-West Linn, increases the wholesale beer and cider tax from $ 2.60 per barrel to $ 72.60 and increases the wine tax by 65 sent to $ 10.65 per liter. Prusak withdrew her support for the bill earlier this month after meeting with voters and representatives of the beer and wine industry, Wilsonville spokeswoman reported.
In contrast, more than half of Oregonians surveyed agree to increase beer, wine and cider taxes to pay for paid mental health and drug abuse services. However, the poll does not mention the extent of the proposed increases, and it is an important reason that opponents of the bill cite.
The proposal for the minimum wage also has an uncertain prospect, as the five sponsors are in the Legislature in their first year and the top Democrats have not identified it among their priorities. But 52% of Oregonians told pollsters they would support a minimum wage of $ 17 an hour by next year.
The nationwide survey also revealed that there is no support for a proposal that has outspoken supporters in the Portland area: police are banning the use of pepper spray unless they have officially declared a riot. Only 44% of the people who took part in the survey said they supported the idea. Younger and older Oregonians, however, were sharply divided on the subject. Among those 44 and younger, about 55% support such a ban. But under the age of 45 and older, only 35 do so. Rural Oregonians and men also indicated that they were strongly opposed to it.
Sixty percent of respondents said they want the state to extend the COVID-19 moratorium until September 1, 2021.. A much larger share – 73% – said the state should create a tax credit for landlords who have lost rent due to the inability to pay. Congress and the Legislature have approved more than $ 500 million in aid for tenants in Oregon to pay their landlords, but the state has struggled to get the money out to people in a timely manner. Separately, state lawmakers allocated $ 150 million in December to lease a new compensation fund. Provinces and cities in Oregon are also receiving millions more federal rent assistance, which will eventually move to landlords.
Forty percent of people surveyed say taxes are at the right level at the moment, 34% said taxes and public services should be reduced, and only 12% said the government spends too little on services and taxes must increase. The poll question did not specify whether the tax increase would be for businesses or wage earners.
Democrats in the legislature focused this session on lifting new tax concessions for businesses that Oregon has automatically copied from federal tax cuts over the past year, but the proposals are being pushed back significantly. Lawmakers from both parties have expressed interest in undoing the increased tax rates that some individuals may incur as a result of federal stimulus payments.
As for gun policy, a majority of respondents, 59%, said they would support a bill to allow local governments, including school districts, to ban guns in their buildings.
After a year of online learning for most students in the state, people’s views of teachers were far more favorable than their perspective on the unions representing teachers, with 70% approval versus 51%. Fifty-two percent said they approve of their local school district’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, compared to just 31 percent who do not.
– Hillary Borrud; [email protected]; @hborrud
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