+

September 29, 2020

Va. voters say Biden better than Trump on Covid-19;

say nation relaxing restrictions too fast, state OK;
strongly back major reforms on police use of force
Summary of Key Findings
1. A majority of Virginia voters say the country is moving too quickly to loosen
restrictions related to Covid-19 (54%), and a plurality say the state is about
right (47%). More say Joe Biden (48%) would be better at responding to the
pandemic than President Donald Trump (36%).

2. On K-12 school opening, Virginia voters prefer a hybrid model (46%) to an

all-virtual model (28%) or fully in-person model (23%).

3. Strong majorities support reforms related to police use of force, including

training on de-escalation (96%), requiring body cameras (95%), requiring
officers to intervene when a colleague uses unlawful force (94%), requiring
public reports when force is used (76%), establishing a public database on
police misconduct (76%) and creating civilian oversight boards (70%).

4. By slimmer majorities, voters support criminalizing the use of chokeholds

(56%-42%), requiring officers to live in the localities they police (52%-47%),
and allowing civilians to sue for misconduct (52%-44%). Voters narrowly
oppose banning police use of military-grade weapons (50%-47%).

5. Voters view police positively on protecting people from crime (64%) but
negatively on treatment of racial and ethnic groups (65%), the proper use of
force (54%), and holding officers accountable for misconduct (61%).

For further information, contact:

Dr. Quentin Kidd qkidd@cnu.edu O: (757) 594-8499
Academic Director @QuentinKidd M: (757) 775-6932
Dr. Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo rebecca.bromleytrujillo@cnu.edu O: (757) 594-9140
Research Director @becky_btru M: (269) 598-5008
Analysis

Covid-19 Pandemic: Virginia voters appear wary of how the country is responding to
the Covid-19 pandemic, with a majority saying the country is moving too quickly to
loosen restrictions (54% to 41%). A clear partisan divide exists with 86% of Democrats
saying the country is moving too quickly, while 74% of Republicans believe the country
is taking too long. Assessing efforts in Virginia, a plurality (47%) of those surveyed
indicate that the restrictions are about right, while 29% indicate there should be fewer
restrictions and 24% say more are needed.

Voters say Joe Biden would be better at responding to Covid-19 than Donald Trump
(48% Biden, 36% Trump), while 11% say neither would be good.

A few weeks into the new school year, nearly half of voters (46%) support a hybrid
model, in which students have limited in-person instruction, with just over a quarter
(28%) supporting entirely virtual education and just under a quarter (23%) supporting
entirely in-person instruction. Currently, most public-school divisions in the state are
fully virtual, though several are signaling that they may move to hybrid models soon.

Police Reform: Police reform has received heightened attention since the deaths of
George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others at the hands of police. The Virginia General
Assembly has debated several reforms during its on-going special session. By varying
degrees, voters support almost all of them.

Voters show the strongest levels of support for de-escalation training (96% strongly
support/support), requiring body cameras be used by police (95%), requiring officers to
intervene when a colleague uses unlawful force (94%), requiring public reports any time
force is used (76%), creating a public database on police misconduct (76%), establishing
civilian oversight boards to review police misconduct (70%), and having police focus on
serious crimes rather than misdemeanors (66%).

Smaller majorities of Virginia voters support criminalizing the use of chokeholds (56%
to 42%), requiring police officers to live in the localities they police (52% to 47%) and
allowing civilians to sue police officers for excessive force or misconduct (52% to 44%).
Voters do not support banning the use of military- grade weapons by police (50%
oppose/strongly oppose a ban, 47% strongly support/support a ban).

“Virginia voters are pretty plainly saying it’s time for some of these police reforms to be
made into law,” said Wason Center Research Director Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo. “And
enough lawmakers seem to be listening that many reforms, though not all, are poised to
pass in the General Assembly’s current special session.”

Assessment of Police: Nearly two-thirds (64%) of Virginia voters rate police across
the country as “excellent” or “good” when it comes protecting people from crime.
However, voters rate police nationwide as “only fair” or “poor” regarding holding other
officers accountable for police misconduct (61%), the use of force in the right amount
(54%), and for the equal treatment of racial and ethnic groups (65%). “Majorities across
all demographic groups – white, Black, men, women, young, old, college or not -- give
police poor marks on race,” Wason Center Academic Director Quentin Kidd said. “But
there’s a partisan divide. Solid majorities of Democrats and Independents rate police
poorly on race, but nearly two out of three Republicans say police treat racial and ethnic
groups equally.”

Field Dates: September 9-21, 2020

796 Likely Virginia Voters (MOE =+- 3.6%)

Cross-tabs shown for questions with substantial difference of overall topline opinion.

Q10: Which concerns you more about the U.S. response to the Covid-19 outbreak [that the U.S is moving too
quickly to loosen restrictions or that the U.S. is taking too long to loosen restrictions]?

College
Rep

Ind

Dem

Males

Females

White

Black

18-44

45 +

Non-

College
All

Moving too quickly 54 19 44 86 44 62 48 72 58 50 65 43

Taking too long 41 74 33 11 50 32 45 26 38 43 31 50
Dk/Ref (vol) 6 7 23 3 5 6 7 2 5 6 4 7

Q11: Thinking about restrictions on public activity because of the Covid-19 outbreak in Virginia, do you think there
should be [RANDOMIZE options 1 and 2 with option 3 always last]

College
Rep

Ind

Dem

Males

Females

White

Black

18-44

45 +

Non-

College
All

MORE restrictions 24 7 10 40 18 29 21 30 22 26 24 24
FEWER restrictions 29 59 18 2 39 19 32 14 29 28 21 35
About the same 47 34 73 57 43 51 46 55 49 46 55 40

Q12: Thinking about two of the candidates running for president, please tell me which would be better when it
comes to responding to the Covid-19? If you think they would be equally good or that neither would be good, just
say so.
College
Rep

Ind

Dem

Males

Females

White

Black

18-44

45 +

Non-

College
All

Joe Biden Better 48 8 38 89 39 56 40 72 48 48 62 36

Donald Trump Better 36 77 30 1 43 30 44 13 30 41 25 45
Both equally good 4 4 5 1 6 1 3 5 5 2 2 5
Neither would be good 11 11 28 8 10 11 12 5 14 8 9 12
Dk/Ref (vol) 2 0 0 1 2 1 0 5 3 1 1 2

Q13: As the school year begins where you live, do you believe that K-12 schools should open for…
College
Rep

Ind

Dem

Males

Females

White

Black

18-44

45 +

Non-

College
All

In-person instruction 23 46 3 6 29 18 27 12 22 25 17 29
A hybrid model 46 45 48 44 49 43 46 46 50 43 45 47
A fully virtual model 28 6 48 48 20 36 24 41 27 29 35 22
Dk/Ref (vol) 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 1 2 4 3 2
Q14: Would you support or oppose the following police reform proposals?
[INTERVIEWER PROBE for STRONGLY SUPPORT OR STRONGLY OPPOSE]

A. Requiring all officers to undergo training on de-escalation tactics

Strongly Support 54
Support 42
Oppose 4
Strongly oppose 1

B. Prohibiting police departments from buying or using military-grade weapons

College
Rep

Ind

Dem

Males

Females

White

Black

18-44

45 +

Non-

College
All

Strongly Support 20 9 23 31 15 25 18 28 23 17 25 16
Support 27 17 5 37 22 31 27 31 26 27 31 23
Oppose 34 43 63 21 39 30 36 20 30 37 26 41
Strongly Oppose 16 27 8 8 22 11 16 20 18 15 14 18
Dk/Ref (vol) 3 4 3 2 2 3 3 1 3 3 4 2

C. Requiring officers to wear and using body cameras when on duty

Strongly Support 54
Support 41
Oppose 3
Strongly oppose
Dk/ref (vol) 2

D. Requiring police departments to publicly report all incidents involving the use of force

Strongly Support 33
Support 43
Oppose 20
Strongly oppose 3
Dk/ref (vol) 2

E. Creating a public database to track police officers who have been found responsible for misconduct

Strongly Support 33
Support 43
Oppose 18
Strongly oppose 4
Dk/ref (vol) 3

F. Focusing police on investigating serious or violent crime rather than misdemeanor activities
College
Rep

Ind

Dem

Males

Females

White

Black

18-44

45 +

Non-

College
All

Strongly Support 24 10 46 34 22 26 17 38 28 21 26 23
Support 42 37 28 48 40 43 45 35 45 39 45 38
Oppose 25 40 18 12 26 23 30 16 19 29 21 28
Strongly Oppose 5 8 0 3 7 3 4 8 4 6 3 7
Dk/Ref (vol) 5 5 8 4 5 5 5 3 4 5 6 4
G. Require that police officers live in the cities or towns they police

College
Rep

Ind

Dem

Males

Females

White

Black

18-44

45 +

Non-

College
All
Strongly Support 17 11 8 23 15 18 14 24 13 19 16 17
Support 35 26 36 42 32 37 33 39 39 32 41 30
Oppose 39 51 44 27 40 37 43 30 37 40 35 42
Strongly Oppose 8 11 13 5 12 4 7 7 10 6 5 10
Dk/Ref (vol) 2 1 0 3 1 4 3 1 2 3 3 2

H. Make it a crime for police to use chokeholds or strangleholds

College
Rep

Ind

Dem

Males

Females

White

Black

18-44

45 +

Non-

College
All

Strongly Support 26 7 20 44 18 33 20 45 26 26 32 20
Support 30 22 38 36 28 31 31 23 28 31 36 25
Oppose 35 53 40 16 41 29 37 30 38 32 24 44
Strongly Oppose 7 14 3 2 11 4 8 2 6 8 6 8
Dk/Ref (vol) 3 5 0 2 2 4 3 1 2 4 3 4

I. Establish civilian oversight boards to investigate police officers accused of misconduct

Strongly Support 24
Support 46
Oppose 19
Strongly oppose 7
Dk/ref (vol) 4

J. Require police officers to intervene when they see a colleague engaging in unlawful use of force

Strongly Support 54
Support 40
Oppose 4
Strongly oppose 1
Dk/ref (vol) 2

Q24: Which statement comes closer to your own views — even if neither is exactly right? [RANDOMIZE options
1 and 2 with option 3 always last]
College
Rep

Ind

Dem

Males

Females

White

Black

18-44

45 +

Non-

College
All

Police need protections

44 74 33 19 49 39 55 16 35 50 38 49
against lawsuits
Police need to be held
52 21 64 77 46 57 42 79 63 44 59 45
accountable
DK/Ref (vol) 4 5 3 4 5 4 4 5 2 6 3 6
Q26. How would you rate the job police in the country are doing when it comes to each of the following?

A. Holding officers accountable when misconduct occurs

College
Rep

Ind

Dem

Males

Females

White

Black

18-44

45 +

Non-

College
All
Excellent 7 14 3 2 8 7 9 2 2 12 6 9
Good 28 45 23 14 33 24 31 14 27 29 21 34
Only fair 29 28 35 28 27 30 34 19 31 27 29 28
Poor 32 10 28 54 29 36 22 64 38 29 40 26
Dk/Ref (vol) 3 3 13 2 4 3 4 2 2 4 3 4

B. Using the right amount of force for each situation

College
Rep

Ind

Dem

Males

Females

White

Black

18-44

45 +

Non-

College
All

Excellent 12 25 3 2 17 7 13 1 8 14 9 15
Good 31 42 28 22 30 32 37 17 25 35 29 33
Only fair 31 25 31 35 30 32 31 32 40 24 32 30
Poor 23 4 23 39 19 26 14 48 25 21 28 18
Dk/Ref (vol) 4 4 15 3 5 4 5 2 2 6 3 6

C. treating racial and ethnic groups equally

College
Rep

Ind

Dem

Males

Females

White

Black

18-44

45 +

Non-

College
All

Excellent 9 18 3 2 10 7 11 1 3 13 7 10
Good 24 44 15 7 28 19 27 8 19 27 19 27
Only fair 28 25 40 32 28 28 30 28 31 26 25 31
Poor 37 10 33 59 30 43 27 63 45 31 47 28
Dk/Ref (vol) 3 4 10 2 4 3 4 0 3 4 2 5

D. protecting people from crime

College
Rep

Ind

Dem

Males

Females

White

Black

18-44

45 +

Non-

College
All

Excellent 18 33 15 6 21 16 21 7 11 24 14 22
Good 46 49 33 48 49 44 51 32 51 42 52 42
Only fair 26 15 43 34 21 31 20 50 29 24 27 26
Poor 7 3 8 10 8 7 5 11 9 6 7 8
Dk/Ref (vol) 2 1 3 2 2 3 2 0 0 4 1 3
Demographics

EDUC: Could you tell me the highest level of school PARTY: In politics today, do you generally consider
or college you had the opportunity to complete: yourself to be a Republican, a Democrat, or an
Independent?
High school or less 46
College or more 54 Republican 29
Democrat 34
HISPANIC: Do you consider yourself to be Hispanic Independent 32
or Latino? No Preference (vol) 2
Other Party (vol) 1
Yes 3 Dk/Ref (vol) 3
No 95
Dk/ref (vol) 2 PARTYLN

RACE: Do you consider yourself to be: Republican 40

Democrat 36
White 68 Independent 24
Black or African American 21
Other 11 AGE: (Recorded as exact year of birth)

RELIG: What is your religious preference, are you 18-24 5

Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, another religion, 25-34 16
or no religion? 35-44 22
45-54 14
Protestant 26 55 & older 43
Christian (non-specific) (vol) 26
Catholic 10 INCOME: And, just for statistical purposes, in which
Jewish 1 of the following categories does your family income
Other 11 fall?
None 22
Dk/ref (vol) 4 Under $25,000 4
$25-$49,999 11
IDEOL: When it comes to your ideology, would you $50-$74,999 18
consider yourself to be a… $75-$99,999 14
$100,000-$149,999 20
Strong liberal 7 Over $150,000 21
Liberal 13 Dk/ref (vol) 12
Moderate, leaning liberal 25
Moderate, leaning conservative 17 CELL/LANDLINE
Conservative 18
Strong Conservative 14 Cell 74
Dk/ref (vol) 6 Landline 26

SEX: [INTERVIEWER CODE]

Male 48
Female 52
How the survey was conducted:

The results of this poll are based on 796 interviews of registered Virginia voters who have voted in at least two
general elections in the last four years, including 163 on landline and 633 on cell phone, conducted September 9-21,
2020. Percentages may not equal 100 due to rounding. The margin of error for the whole survey is +/-3.6% at the
95% level of confidence. This means that if 50% of respondents indicate a topline view on an issue, we can be
95% confident that the population’s view on that issue is somewhere between 46.4% and 53.6%. All error
margins have been adjusted to account for the survey’s design effect, which is 1.1 in this survey. The design effect is
a factor representing the survey’s deviation from a simple random sample and takes into account decreases in
precision due to sample design and weighting procedures. Sub-samples have a higher margin of error. In addition to
sampling error, the other potential sources of error include non-response, question wording, and interviewer error.
The response rate (AAPOR RRI Standard Definition) for the survey was 10%. Five callbacks were employed in the
fielding process. Live calling was conducted by trained interviewers at the Wason Center for Public Policy Survey
Research Lab at Christopher Newport University. The data reported here are weighted using an iterative weighting
process on region, age, race, sex, and education to reflect as closely as possible the population of Virginia’s 2020
electorate.