Swing state voters increasingly concerned about coronavirus

Voters in three critical swing states are growing increasingly concerned about the coronavirus spreading across the United States, though they largely approve of the Trump administration’s response to the outbreak.

A new poll conducted by the firm Optimus on behalf of Firehouse Strategies, founded by veterans of Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) 2016 presidential campaign, showed that a majority of voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan are very or somewhat concerned about the virus. In each state, fewer than 1 in 5 voters said they were not at all concerned.

Still, few respondents said they were making significant changes to their daily lives as a result of the coronavirus. Just 25 percent of Pennsylvania voters, 20 percent of Michigan voters and 18 percent of Wisconsin voters said they had changed their plans because of the outbreak.

And in each of the three states, more voters said they approved of President Trump’s handling of the response than disapproved. Fifty-five percent of Michigan voters and 52 percent of voters in both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania said they strongly or somewhat approve of the job the administration has done so far.

“As of last week, most swing state voters were concerned about the coronavirus but not yet taking it too seriously,” said Alex Conant, a partner at Firehouse Strategies who oversaw the poll. “Relatively few are changing their plans and, consequently, most approve of Trump’s handling.”

But the administration’s response in the coming days and weeks, as case counts are likely to rise into the thousands as the virus infects new people, will be critical as voters evaluate Trump’s handling of the outbreak. The president has been criticized for downplaying the threat of the virus, even as other members of his administration like Vice President Pence warn Americans to prepare.

“It’s a fluid situation and things could change quickly. Given Trump’s tenuous standing in these must-win states, he can’t afford to screw this up,” Conant said. “Most voters aren’t overly concerned about the virus right now. If that changes — and it easily could — then it could further drag down his overall job approval.”

The same poll, which was conducted March 5-7, found Trump leading former Vice President Joe Biden by 2 percentage points in Michigan and Wisconsin and by a single point in Pennsylvania. Trump edged Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) by slightly wider margins in all three states.

The poll surveyed 533 voters in Pennsylvania, 550 in Michigan and 502 in Wisconsin, with margins of error of between 4.6 and 5 percentage points.