YouGov/Economist Poll: May 20-23, 2016

William JordanUS Elections Editor
May 24, 2016, 4:29 PM GMT+0

This is a summary of a YouGov/Economist Poll, conducted May 20-23, 2016.

Trial heats among registered voters:

  • Hillary Clinton: 42% (no change from May 6-9)
  • Donald Trump: 41% (+1)


  • Bernie Sanders: 48% (NC)
  • Donald Trump: 39% (NC)

Preferred 2016 presidential nominee among likely Democratic primary voters:

  • Hillary Clinton: 51% (+2)
  • Bernie Sanders: 41% (-2)

(Among all adults...)

Approval of Obama as president:

  • Approve: 47% (0)
  • Disapprove: 48% (-1)

Approval of Congress:

  • Approve: 12% (+2)
  • Disapprove: 60% (-1)

Direction of the country:

  • Right direction: 27% (+4)
  • Disapprove: 64% (-2)



Other highlights:

The Democratic primary

  • Only half (50%) of Sanders supporters pick Clinton over Trump in the general election trial heat, down from 55% last week. Most of the remainder choosing "Not sure," "Someone else" or "I would not vote" – only 11% pick Trump.
  • One third (33%) of Sanders supporters believe Sanders is more likely than Clinton to end up the nominee.
  • About half (51%) of Democratic primary voters, including 78% of Sanders supporters, say the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has been biased towards Clinton
  • 46% of Americans say violence is "likely" at this summer's Democratic national convention.

Donald Trump's tax returns

  • Asked whether Donald Trump should release his tax returns, 61% of US adults say yes, and only 21% say no.

Zika Virus

  • 58% of Americans are concerned about the possibility of a Zika virus epidemic in the United States. It was 54% in a survey conducted April 22-26.
  • 38% want the US government to spend more on Zika virus research; 34% want no change in spending, and 7% want less spending.

Women in the military

  • 60% favor and 30% oppose allowing women to join military combat units, where they would be directly involved in ground fighting.

Government

  • 72% of Americans believe the government is run to serve "a few big interests" rather than the benefit of all.
  • 68% believe the government wastes "a lot" of tax money.
  • 61% believe "quite a few" of the people running the government are "crooked".



For additional questions and detailed demographic breakdowns, see the full questionnaire here.


The Tracking Report can be found here.


Economist/YouGov poll archives can be found here.