A majority of Wyoming residents are supporting Gov. Mark Gordon’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a University of Wyoming survey.
The survey conducted by the university’s Survey and Analysis Center on Monday showed that of the 494 residents polled, 76.1% approve of the job Gordon has done while 20.8% disapprove, for a net approval rating of 55.3 points.
The survey, the results of which were released Thursday, is the second on coronavirus-related issues to be conducted by the Survey and Analysis Center.
The first, completed two weeks ago, gave Gordon a net approval rating of 67.9% — 12.6 percentage points higher than this week’s figure.
Support is also quite high for the steps taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus, according to the survey, which had a margin of error of 4.4%.
The closure of public schools had the support of 84.4% of those questioned, while 82.2% backed the order limiting public gatherings to fewer than 10 people.
Fewer than half of those questioned support the state adopting a more stringent “shelter-in-place” order, 47.8 percent.
In addition to supporting Gordon and the state’s efforts to slow the spread of the disease, the respondents also backed the efforts of their local governments, survey results showed.
Local governments and health officials had a net approval rating of 58.8 points, with 77.4% supporting approving of their work during the pandemic and 18.6 percent disapproving of them.
By contrast, the support for Congress’ handling of the pandemic was in the red — a negative approval rating of 7.6 points, with 49.5% disapproving of its efforts.
The survey also showed that more people trust what they receive about coronavirus from local media sources — 66.6% — than believe what they see or hear on the national media — 41.5%.
Brian Harnisch, senior research scientist in charge of the survey, said his group will continue conducting its surveys through the pandemic.
“We hope this information continues to prove useful thorughout this period to our state and local government officials, the media and our fellow Wyoming community members as a whole,” he said in a news release.
