Trump and Biden supporters both think COVID-19 relief will be a top priority

Jamie BallardData Journalist
November 03, 2020, 1:00 PM GMT+0

The latest data from Yahoo News and YouGov finds that there is clear bipartisan support for passing another round of COVID-19 relief, and supporters of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden believe that their preferred candidate will make this the top priority if he wins the election.

Among the nine potential measures surveyed, passing another round of COVID-19 relief was the most favored (72%) measure among registered voters. A majority of Democrats (86%), Independents (75%) and Republicans (69%) all say that they would favor this measure.

Majorities also say they would favor measures urging states and cities to establish mask mandates (62%), allowing patients to buy into a Medicare-like public option for health insurance (58%), and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour (54%).

Supporters of both Trump and Biden believe that if their preferred candidate wins the election, COVID-19 relief will be the top priority.

Among Trump supporters, 46% say that if he is re-elected, passing another round of coronavirus relief for businesses and workers will be his top priority. About half as many (24%) think that Trump’s primary focus will be repealing the Affordable Care Act, and 14% think it will be further restricting immigration.

Most (56%) Biden supporters believe that if the president is re-elected, his top priority will be repealing the Affordable Care Act. Another 27% believe that it will be further restricting immigration.

While about a quarter of Trump’s supporters believe repealing the Affordable Care Act will be his top priority, it may prove controversial. About half (48%) of registered voters are opposed to the idea, while 40% are in favor. Further restricting immigration is perhaps even more contentious: 43% favor this measure, but 41% are opposed.

Looking to Biden’s potential priorities, 45% of his supporters believe that his top priority if he wins will be passing another round of COVID-19 relief. Just over one-third (35%) believe that his main focus will be urging states and cities to mandate masks in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Among Trump supporters, 34% say that if Biden wins, they think his top priority will be adding justices to the Supreme Court to balance out Republican appointments. Another 22% believe it will be urging cities and states to mandate masks to slow the spread of COVID-19. About one in six (16%) Trump supporters believe Biden’s top priority will be re-entering global climate change agreements and pushing for a carbon-free power sector by 2035.

See the toplines and crosstabs from this week's Yahoo News/YouGov Poll

Methodology: The Yahoo News survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,501 registered U.S. voters interviewed online from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1. This sample was weighted according to gender, age, race and education based on the American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, as well as 2016 president vote, registration status, geographic region and news interest. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of all U.S registered voters. The margin of error is approximately 2.9 percent.

Image: Getty