Governor Whitmer gets Graded on COVID-19
LANSING, Mich. –Michigan residents expressed overwhelming opposition to mandating the COVID vaccine for adults in the latest statewide poll conducted by Marketing Resource Group (MRG). Seventy-one percent of respondents believe every adult should not be required to be vaccinated compared to the 22% that believe the vaccine should be required.
Limiting Certain Activities to Vaccinated People?
When asked if activities like public transportation, commercial flying, or attending entertainment events should be limited to those who have received the vaccine, 66% of respondents opposed the idea compared to the 25% that support. Democrats were split on mandating a vaccine (42% in support compared to the 43% against) while 68% of Independents strongly opposed and 91% of Republicans were decidedly opposed.
Mask Mandates Still Supported
The mask mandate continues to have strong support with 62% confirming that it is not time to end the mandate. Thirty-five percent support ending the mandate. Across the political spectrum, 94% of Democrats support keeping the mandate and 60% of Independents believe the same. Sixty-eight percent of Republicans oppose the mandate.
Governor Gets a C+
Michigan voters gave Governor Whitmer passing grades when asked to rank the Governor’s handling of the pandemic. Fifty-three percent gave her an “A” or “B” while 24% gave her a failing grade. The average result: 2.3 (C+). The Governor’s ranking is split on a partisan basis with 50% of the Democrats giving her a grade of “A” and 52% of the Republicans giving her an F.
“The Governor’s handling of the pandemic mirrors her current approval ratings which are also at 53%,” said Jenell Leonard, owner of MRG. “How the Governor continues to manage COVID moving forward will likely determine her path to victory in 2022.”
Vaccinated by The Fourth?
When asked about the availability and accessibility to the vaccine, 52% believe that everyone who wants to receive a vaccine will be vaccinated by the Fourth of July; however, only 42% believe they will receive their own COVID vaccination shots by then. Twenty-three percent of the voters said they have already been vaccinated, including 43% of those over sixty-five years of age. Seventeen percent of voters said they will not choose to be vaccinated.
“President Biden has conveyed a goal of having independence from the pandemic by the Fourth of July,” said Tom Shields, MRG’s senior advisor. “A majority of voters believe he will reach that goal. The general public is also still supportive of the Governor’s mask mandate, but any attempt to mandate a vaccine shot or limiting participation in activities to those who have received a vaccine would be overwhelmingly opposed by Michigan voters. The people respect people’s choices and refuse to mandate it or penalize anyone that does not get a vaccine.”
The actual wording of the coronavirus questions is below:
Q. In general, how would you grade Governor Whitmer’s handling of the Coronavirus, Covid-19 issue? Would you give her an A, B, C, D, E, or F?
Q. Later this summer, once everyone in the Country who wants to receive the Covid-19 Vaccine has been vaccinated, would you support or oppose the idea of limiting some activities like using public transportation, flying on commercial airlines, attending concerts, or sporting events to only those who have been vaccinated?
Q. Do you believe that it’s time to end the mask mandate?
Q. Do you believe that every adult should be required to be vaccinated?
Q. Do you believe that every American adult who wants to receive a vaccine will be vaccinated by the Fourth of July?
Q. Do you believe that you will receive your COVID vaccination shots by the Fourth of July?
MRG Michigan Poll® Spring 2021
The survey of 610 likely Michigan voters was conducted by live interview March 15-22, 2021 with a +4 Dem sample. The sample was randomly drawn from a listed sample of all registered voters with a history of voting and stratified by city and township to reflect voter turnout. Quotas for gender and cell phone interviews were met within each geographic area, and extra efforts were made to reach African Americans. Fifty percent of the interviews were conducted with cell phone only or cell phone dominant households. Some columns may not add up to 100% because of rounding. Individual rounding may impact final totals. This survey yields a sampling margin of error of ±4 percent with a 95 percent confidence interval. The sampling margin of error for subgroups may be higher depending on the size of the subgroup.
About Marketing Resource Group
Lansing, Michigan-based Marketing Resource Group (www.mrgmi.com) is an award-winning PR firm representing corporate, association, nonprofit, and private clients with interests in Michigan. MRG offers expertise in public affairs, communications, political campaign management, and public opinion survey research. For more than thirty years, MRG has conducted its bi-annual omnibus Michigan Poll®, tracking the pulse of Michigan voters on key statewide public policy and political issues. MRG is the only Michigan public opinion survey research firm that maintains nearly 40 years of trend analyses of voter attitudes related to state and national leaders, political parties, and the political and economic climate in Michigan. Follow MRG on Twitter @mrgmichigan and on Facebook.
