The Fiscal Alliance Foundation announced today the results of a new, statewide poll of Massachusetts likely voters gauging opinions on President Joe Biden’s job performance, handling of the economy, inflation, and the conflict in Russia and Ukraine.
A full copy of the poll toplines may be found here.
A full copy of the poll crosstabs may be found here.
This is the first Massachusetts statewide poll of likely voters that measures public opinion of what is happening in eastern Europe. The President’s best polling numbers are for his handling of the conflict in Russia and Ukraine, with 55.73% of likely voters approving and 40.4% disapproving. In contrast to that, polling now show’s that President Biden is just barely upside down with Massachusetts voters on the issue of inflation, with 48.40% disapproving of his handling of inflation while 48.26% approving. Overall, the President’s job performance has him at 53.87% approve and 44.27% disapprove. The President won the Massachusetts Democratic Presidential Primary and the General Election with 65% of the vote in 2020.
The poll was conducted with live operators and fielded between March 7 - 9, 2022, surveyed 750 registered voters with a history of voting in elections. The margin of error is +/- 3.5% with a 95% confidence level. The poll was sponsored by the Fiscal Alliance Foundation and conducted by Jim Eltringham of Advantage Inc., a polling company in the Washington D.C. area.
This is the first statewide poll that shows Democratic likely voters would support the ballot question to cement the classification of so called “gig economy workers” – people who earn money through apps like Uber, Lyft, Door Dash, and others, as independent contractors with additional benefits. Among Democratic voters, the margin was 42.64% in support, while 32.8% oppose. Overall, 35.86% support and 34.67% oppose. This bodes well for the potential ballot question, as it shows early on that a voting block is already supporting a Yes vote on a potential ballot question. The poll also asked how often voters used these popular gig economy services. Democratic voters showed the highest usage, and among Republicans, Democratic, and Unenrolled voters flexibility of this service showed to be very important.
Lastly, the poll asked voters what they thought about the upcoming open Governor’s race. Although it is still very early in the cycle, candidate can now obtain signatures for their nomination papers and the field of candidates seem to be set. The poll shows Attorney General Maura Healey and former state Representative Geoff Diehl continue to be the early frontrunners.
Overall, the Governor’s race has Attorney General Maura Healey at 31%, an improvement from her 29% in February and former state Representative Geoff Diehl at 14%, a one percent increase from his 13% in February. Among unenrolled voters, Healey remained the same at 23% while Diehl saw a slight improvement from 16% in February to 18% in March. Since Danielle Allen dropped out of the race, Democratic voters gave a boost to Healey, with a slight majority supporting her at 53%, an improvement from her 46% in February. Overall, State Senator Sonia Chang Diaz and Chris Doughty are under 5% each.
The most important issue overall for people, when considering their vote for Governor, remains jobs and the economy, at 24%. When taxes and inflation are added with jobs and the economy, which summarizes “economic anxiety,” the overall numbers are nearly 1 out of every 2 voters at 43.73%. Among unenrolled voters, at 48.3%, Republicans at 63.35% and Democratic voters at 27.92%. Climate change for Democratic voters is the number one issue at 24.91% while Covid-19 has dropped to 2.67% overall.
“Across the country, President Biden’s polling shows him in trouble with the voters and this is the first poll that shows he is upside down with voters in Massachusetts when asked to consider the President’s handling of inflation. Overall, the President’s numbers are concerning for an incumbent who is eligible to run for reelection, and over the course of a month, there hasn’t been any significant improvement for the President,” stated Paul Diego Craney, spokesperson for the Fiscal Alliance Foundation.
“If the election were held today, Democratic voters seemed most inclined to support the ballot question to ensure gig workers are classified as independent contractors with new added benefits. For any group that is trying to pass a Yes ballot question, this should be an encouraging sign this early on,” continued Craney.
“Our poll continues to show Attorney General Maura Healey and former State Representative Geoff Diehl are among the favorites. Healey made gains among Democratic voters and Diehl made gains among unenrolled voters. Overall, Healey is at 31%, Diehl at 14% and the other candidates do not break 5% while 50% of the voters remain undecided,” concluded Craney.