VPR – Vermont PBS 2020 Polls: February

If the presidential primary election were held today, which candidate would you support? What about the governor’s race? Would you favor or oppose state taxes to reduce carbon emissions? Is it a problem Vermont has never elected a woman to Congress?The VPR–Vermont PBS 2020 Poll asked hundreds of Vermonters these questions and more. Find out where your neighbors stand on the candidates and the issues.

Note: This is the first of three polls conducted in 2020 by VPR and Vermont PBS.

Q1. For each name, please state if you have a favorable opinion, unfavorable opinion, or have not heard of the person.

603 Total Respondents

The full survey has a sampling error of 4%; this varies with the total respondents. See the Appendix below for the details on the sample and methods.

Q2. Are you most likely to vote in the Republican or Democratic presidential primary on Town Meeting Day?

54% Democratic primary28% Republican primary10% Neither8% Not sure1% Refused603 Total Respondents

Q3a. If the primary were held today, which Democratic candidate would you support?

51% Bernie Sanders13% Pete Buttigieg9% Elizabeth Warren7% Michael Bloomberg5% Joe Biden4% Amy Klobuchar2% Andrew Yang1% Tulsi Gabbard7% Not sure0% Other0% Refused327 Total Respondents

Q3b. If the primary were held today, which Republican candidate would you support?

85% Donald Trump6% Bill Weld1% Rocky De La Fuente7% Not Sure2% Other0% Refused166 Total Respondents

Q3c. How certain are you that you will vote for your candidate in the presidential primary?

54% Absolutely certain34% Fairly certain11% Not too certain2% Not at all certain459 Total Respondents

Q4. Did you support or oppose the impeachment of President Trump by the House of Representatives?

59% Support36% Oppose5% Not sure603 Total Respondents

Q5. If the Vermont governor’s election were held today and the candidates were Phil Scott and David Zuckerman, who would you vote for?

52% Phil Scott29% David Zuckerman15% Don’t know4% Somebody else603 Total Respondents

Q6. If the Vermont governor’s election were held today and the candidates were Phil Scott and Rebecca Holcombe, who would you vote for?

55% Phil Scott20% Rebecca Holcombe22% Don’t know4% Somebody else603 Total Respondents

Q7. What is the most important problem facing Vermont today?

30% The economy/Jobs/Cost of living10% Property taxes 10% Climate change/Environmental issues/Renewable energy10% Drugs/Opioid addiction9% Health care4% Education costs/School consolidation4% Wages/Leave/Workplace issues3% Troubled politics/Leadership2% Guns/Gun control2% National politics13% Other4% Refused603 Total Respondents

Q8. Some changes are being proposed for Act 250, the law that regulates development in Vermont. One of those changes makes it easier to develop projects in downtown areas. Would you say that this is the right direction or the wrong direction for Act 250?

66% Right direction17% Wrong direction15% Not sure2% Neither603 Total Respondents

Q9. Do you think Vermont state officials are doing too much to address climate change, not enough to address climate change, or about the right amount to address climate change?

39% About right39% Too little18% Too much3% Not sure1% No opinion603 Total Respondents

Q10. Would you favor or oppose an increase in taxes to support efforts to reduce carbon emissions?

51% Oppose44% Favor5% Don’t know603 Total Respondents

Q11. If taxes were raised to support efforts to reduce carbon emissions and you had a choice between higher taxes for the wealthy or more taxes for everyone at the gas pump, which would you choose?

60% Income tax on wealthy26% Gas tax10% Neither4% Don’t know603 Total Respondents

Q12. Over the next two years, should the Vermont Legislature raise the minimum wage from $10.96 to $12.55, leave it where it is, or raise it higher than $12.55?

41% Raise it to $12.5533% Raise it beyond $12.5523% Leave it2% Not sure603 Total Respondents

Q13. Under existing laws, Vermont currently allows unpaid family medical leave. Would you favor or oppose a paid family leave plan, even if it would mean higher taxes?

56% Favor35% Oppose9% Not sure603 Total Respondents

Q14. Vermont is the only state that has never elected a woman to the U.S. House or U.S. Senate. In your opinion, is this a major problem, a minor problem or not a problem at all?

46% Not a problem35% Minor problem17% Major problem2% Refused603 Total Respondents

Q15. To what extent do you think racism is a problem in Vermont today? Would you say it is a big problem, somewhat of a problem, a small problem or no problem at all?

34% Somewhat problem22% Small problem22% Big problem19% No problem2% Not sure1% Refused603 Total Respondents

• Full Results XLS: By Region (1st tab), Party (2nd tab), Gender & Age (3rd tab) and Education & Household Income (4th tab)
• Appendix A: MethodologyTable 1: Sampling ErrorAppendix B: Survey Instrument

Attribution

You are free to use and share this poll data, provided you:

• Maintain the integrity of the data and results
• Provide credit/attribution to the “VPR – Vermont PBS 2020 Poll” everywhere the data is used, e.g. broadcast, web, social media
• Link directly to this page, when possible, e.g. on web and social media

Credit

The VPR – Vermont PBS 2020 Poll is a collaboration between Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS and was made possible by our supporters. Braun Research conducted the poll under the direction of Dr. Richard Clark.