West Virginia officials receive high marks in poll

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS – Gov. Jim Justice and U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin all enjoy the support of the public, according to the latest WV MetroNews West Virginia Poll.

The results of the annual poll were presented Friday at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce 85th Annual Meeting and Business Summit at the Greenbrier Resort. The West Virginia Poll, conducted by Research America, surveyed 400 registered voters between Aug. 20-25 via online and phone polling.

Of those polled, 61 percent said they approved of the job Justice was doing, with 25 percent disapproving and 14 percent unsure. According to the poll report, Justice’s job approval began increasing in 2019 and continued to rise over the last two years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When rating Justice’s response to the pandemic, 43 percent were somewhat satisfied and 28 percent were very satisfied, while 12 percent were somewhat dissatisfied, and 9 percent were very dissatisfied. Justice has declined to implement a new indoor mask mandate for public spaces or require a statewide mask mandate for public schools, leaving decisions on masks up to county school boards and health departments. Justice has continued to push testing for COVID-19 and vaccines.

When respondents were asked about their opinions of several state and national political figures and institutions, Justice had the highest favorability rating. Of those polled, 56 percent had a favorable opinion of the two-term governor, while 25 percent had an unfavorable opinion and 19 percent were unsure.

Despite losing the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump still enjoys a high favorability rate with 55 percent of respondents having a favorable opinion, while 40 percent had an unfavorable opinion and 5 percent were unsure.

The man who defeated Trump, President Joe Biden, had the next to lowest favorability numbers, with 48 percent having an unfavorable opinion and 30 percent having a favorable opinion and 22 percent unsure. When looking at job approval, 57 percent disapproved of Biden’s job performance since taking office in January, while 36 percent approved, and 7 percent were unsure.

Showing West Virginia’s shift to a majority of registered Republican voters, respondents had a 49 percent favorable opinion of the Republican Party, with 37 percent with an unfavorable opinion and 14 percent unsure. The Democratic Party had a 52 percent unfavorable rating and a 36 percent favorable rating with 12 percent unsure. The Republican-led majorities in the West Virginia Legislature enjoy a 46-percent favorability rating, a 25-percent unfavorable rating, and 29 percent were unsure.

West Virginia’s two U.S. senators at the heart of the federal infrastructure negotiations both enjoy support among respondents. Capito had a 45 percent favorability rating, with 25 percent with unfavorable opinions and 30 percent unsure. On job approval, Capito had 52 percent support, with 25 percent disapproving and 23 percent unsure.

Manchin had a 42 percent favorability rate, a 38 percent unfavorable rate, and 20 percent unsure. Manchin had a 42 percent job approval rating, with a 37 percent disapproval rating and 21 percent unsure. According to the poll report, Manchin’s approval has dropped over the years, from 49 percent in 2019 to 42 percent as of the new West Virginia Poll.

Despite positive opinions of Manchin and Capito, Congress had the least favorable rating of all political figures and institutions polled. Respondents gave Congress a 48 percent unfavorability rating,

30 percent had a favorable rating, and 22 percent were unsure. Respondents were also pessimistic about the direction of the country, with 66 percent saying the U.S. was going in the wrong direction, compared to 34 percent who said the nation was going in the right direction.

The negative view of the country’s direction among respondents did not trickle down to their opinion on the state’s direction. According to the poll, 54 percent believe the state is going in the right direction, while 47 percent believe the state is going in the wrong direction.

When it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of the delta variant, 33 percent of respondents said they were somewhat concerned and 40 percent were very concerned, while 14 percent said they were not too concerned and 9 percent they were not concerned at all, leaving 5 percent not sure. Seven out of 10 respondents said they had been vaccinated, with 8 percent saying they planned to get vaccinated.