Poll: Arizonans’ coronavirus concern growing as Ducey approval falls

PHOENIX — Arizonans are becoming more concerned with the coronavirus pandemic while Gov. Doug Ducey’s approval is falling, according to new polling from OH Predictive Insights released Monday.

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, more than half of Arizona likely voters (52%) were extremely concerned about the spread of the virus.

That was up from a previous high of 45% in April, when the state was in the midst of its stay-at-home order.

As a result, Ducey’s approval rating dipped from the start of June, according to the poll.

The Republican governor had an approval rating of 35%, down from 59% in June.

“What we’re seeing right now is there’s a big correlation between the governor’s concern and level of handling based on the level of cases,” poll manager Mike Noble told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “As the cases spiked up, there was a negative effect on the governor’s approval.”

In total, more than two-thirds of 600 likely Arizona voters polled were extremely or moderately concerned about the pandemic.

Almost 90% of Democrats polled were highly concerned about the outbreak. Conversely, only about 50% of Republicans were highly concerned.

More GOP voters (35%) were only slightly concerned or not concerned at all about COVID-19 compared to Democrats (7%) as a result.

Arizona reported 123,824 COVID-19 cases and 2,245 fatalities as of Monday morning.

“The pandemic has become politically polarized and you see that in the numbers,” Noble said.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Ali Vetnar contributed to this report.

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