Va. voters approve of Democrat platforms, disapprove of Democrat president, survey says

A perceived flagging economy by voters drug President Joe Biden's approval rating down in Virginia, according to a survey by The Wason Center for Civic Leadership.

Despite Biden's low approval rating, traditionally Democratic platforms saw significant support.

Abortion access, an assault rifle ban and marijuana legalization are among a handful of issues voters told The Wason Center that they would support but, in that same call, nearly two thirds said they don't support the Democratic president.

Biden’s approval rating was 36% in Virginia, two percentage points lower compared to the previous year, according to the Wason Center’s State of the Commonwealth survey released on Wednesday.

The 2024 Virginia rating is lower than the latest 41% national approval rating, published by Gallup on Thursday, for the month of January.

Only 20% of Virginia registered voters say the United States is headed in the right direction, compared to 71% percent who say the wrong direction, according to the Wason Center survey. Most voters surveyed in Virginia said they disapprove of the job the president is doing and Biden’s approval numbers reflect this feeling of discontent within the commonwealth.

Dr. Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo, research director at the Wason Center, attributed Virginia voter’s disillusionment to public perception of high inflation and consumer’s low confidence in the economy.

“We tend to blame presidents for those things,” she said.

She’s also noted that Biden’s messaging on his administration’s achievements has been lagging and that hyper-partisanship hasn’t helped the president.

“A lot of folks are feeling like he hasn’t actually lived up to expectations,” she said. “In particular, in the polarized era that we are in, Republicans are not going to approve of a job a Democratic president is doing.”

Half of Virginian’s voters surveyed approve of the job Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin has done. Those surveyed also said improving K-12 education (74%), reducing crime (62%), and reducing health care costs (59%) should be top priorities for the governor and the General Assembly.

“We tend to be particularly hard on presidents, more so than governors, and part of that is that we tend to blame presidents for economic conditions,” Bromley-Trujillo said. Consumer sentiment relative to the economy has begun to shift as of the end of January, she said.

Support for abortion, rights restoration amendments

Despite the president’s low approval rating, traditionally Democratic platforms saw significantly more support among voters surveyed.

A majority of voters, or 62%, support efforts to amend the commonwealth’s constitution to guarantee abortion rights. A majority of voters, or 66%, support efforts to amend the commonwealth’s constitution to automatically restore voting rights to people who were formerly incarcerated. Constitutional amendments must pass both chambers of the General Assembly twice with an intervening House election. The amendment is then sent to Virginians as a referendum and voters get the final say.

An amendment to automatically restore voting rights died before its second reference floor vote in the House Privileges and Elections Committee in 2022. And an amendment to preserve access to abortion passed the Senate but died in the House Courts Committee on it’s first reference in 2023.

Both amendments have been filed ahead of the start of the 2024 session and are scheduled to be brought to a floor vote for first reference in early 2025.

Support for higher minimum wage, child-care, legal weed

Voters also signaled strong support for legalizing the retail sale of recreational marijuana (57%), increasing the state’s minimum wage to $15 by 2026 (68%), and a proposal to spend $448 million towards childcare initiatives in the state (79%), according to the survey.

Youngkin told a gaggle of reporters that he was not interested in any legislation that would legalize marijuana, after his State of the Commonwealth address earlier this year. He did not fully commit to vetoing such legislation, however. Democrats have put forth bills aimed at creating the framework for cannabis sales ahead of the 2024 session.

Youngkin recently told the Virginia Mercury that he thought legislation to increase the minimum wage to $13.50 and then to $15 per hour by 2026, was unnecessary. He did not commit to vetoing such bills, should they reach his desk. However, Democratic leaders issued a stark rebuke on social media.

“PREDICTION: If Glenn Youngkin vetoes my minimum wage bill, he will quickly find the cooperative tone from Democrats changing very quickly,” Senate President Pro-Tempore Louise Lucas, D – Portsmouth, said in a Tweet on Friday.

Support for gun safety

On gun policy, most of Virginians surveyed support:

• Banning assault-style weapons (56%),

• Establishing criminal penalties for gun owners if their firearms are used by minors in a crime (81%),

• Requiring gun owners to lock up their firearms and ammunition if there are children in the home (87%),

• Allowing concealed carry in more places (51%),

• And oppose allowing teachers to carry guns in K-12 schools (56%), according to the Wason Center survey.

The Wason Center, housed by the Christopher Newport University, surveyed roughly 1,000 Virginians between Jan. 11 and Jan. 17. Most of those interviews were conducted via cell phone, with roughly one fourth conducted via landline.  The Wason Center has conducted the State of the Commonwealth poll for longer than 10 years.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Biden sees low approval rating in Virginia leading into election year