Charleston, W.Va. – West Virginia voters believe President Trump should pick the next supreme court justice to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s vacancy, according to the latest edition of the MetroNews West Virginia Poll. They also think the recent protests, marches and demonstrations hurt support for racial injustice and equality.
Rex Repass, President of Research America Inc., reported these results today on MetroNews TalkLine with Hoppy Kercheval. The poll of 450 likely voters was conducted October 1 to 6 after the first presidential debate.
Half (49%) of likely voters in West Virginia believe that regardless of who wins the next presidential election in November, President Trump should pick the next supreme court justice to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s vacancy since he is president. While two in five (41%) think the winner of the next presidential election in November should pick the new justice since the election is fewer than a month away.
“With Donald Trump dominating the presidential race in West Virginia, it is no surprise that West Virginia voters want him to fill the current vacancy on the Supreme Court,” Repass said. “Thevacancy issue is divided among party lines, with 85 percent of Republicans supporting President Trump selecting the next justice compared to 19 percent of Democrats who support Trump filling the empty seat.”
Nationally, 50 percent of voters think the winner of the next presidential election in November should pick the new justice, while 37 percent want President Trump should select the next justice, according to the Politico-Morning Consult poll conducted Sept. 18-20 among 1,989 registered voters nationwide.
Examining social justice issues, half (51%) of West Virginia voters believe the recent protests, marches, and demonstrations hurt support for racial injustice and equality, while a quarter (28%) think it helps.
This trend is the opposite of the national survey completed by Gallup. In the national poll, half (53%) of Americans believe the recent protests, marches, and demonstrations help support for racial injustice and equality, while a third (34%) think it hurts support, according to Repass.
2-2-2
“We also see a split among political party lines in West Virginia for this issue with 76 percent of Republicans saying it hurts support for racial injustice as compared to 51 percent of Democrats who believe it helps support,” Repass said.
When looking at the economy over the next year, West Virginia voters are more optimistic than the nation as a whole. Half (54%) saying the nation’s economy will get better next year as compared to 41 percent of American voters. This is an increase of 13-percentage points from a national poll conducted by AP-NORC in July 2020 among 1,057 registered voters nationwide.
The MetroNews West Virginia Poll was conducted between Oct. 1 to 6 among a sample of 450 West Virginia registered voters who are likely to vote in the upcoming November 3rd general election. The overall confidence interval for the survey is +/- 4.6 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
[See additional poll results on pp. 3-4]
Methodology Statement
Results of this edition of MetroNews West Virginia Poll arebased on interviews conducted between Oct. 1-6, 2020 with a sample of 450 West Virginia registered voters who are likely to vote in the upcoming November 3rd national general election, including registered Democrats, Republicans, Libertarian, Mountain Party, and unaffiliated or independent voters. Data collection was completed online and by telephone with purchased sample of registered voters who are likely to vote in general elections.
Registered likely voters in all 55 West Virginia counties were sampled and screened for near certainty that they plan to vote. After completion of data collection, the data was modeled to likely voters, actual voter registration in the state, and expected turnout.
When using sample of registered voters and hybrid data collection (online and telephone) it is not appropriate to apply a probability-based margin of error to interviews completed. However, applying statistical tests of significance to each question asked at the 95 percent confidence interval yields an overall statistical error of +/- 4.6 percentage points based on the 450 interviews. The 95 percent confidence interval varies by question.
The purpose of the West Virginia Poll is to provide a snapshot of opinion and timely voter views in the Mountain State. The media sponsor of the West Virginia Poll is MetroNews Radio Network.
Rex Repass is director of the West Virginia Poll and president of Research America Inc. Repass is responsible for questionnaire design, the respondent screening and selection process, data tabulation, statistical analysis, and reporting of results.
The MetroNews West Virginia Poll is a non-partisan survey of public opinion conducted by Repass and Research America Inc. The West Virginia Poll has been directed by Repass and conducted periodically since January 21, 1980. The name The West Virginia Poll is a trademark owned by Research America Inc; all rights reserved.
–more-
3-3-3
Respondent Profile
-more-
4-4-4
Topline Findings
[28%] Help
[51%] Hurt
[21%] Makes no difference
[41%] The winner of the presidential election in November should pick the next justice to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s vacancy since the election is fewer than a month away
[49%] Regardless of who wins the presidential election in November, President Trump should pick the next justice to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s vacancy since he is the current President
[10%] Don’t know/No opinion
[19%] Much better
[35%] Somewhat better
[23%] About the same
[17%] Somewhat worse
[6%] Much worse
Note: some percentages may not total 100% due to rounding error
-more-
5–5–5
About Research America Inc.
Research America Inc. is a custom survey research and strategic consulting firm. The firm’s services range from consulting with clients to identify research objectives, through study design, data collection, analysis, and research-based strategy recommendations. For more information see www.researchamericainc.com.
-30-
