More than half of voters in seven key 2018 battleground states are concerned about President Trump’s Cabinet nominees, according to a poll commissioned by a progressive group and released Thursday. Overall, 59 percent of voters in the seven states said they were “somewhat” or “very” concerned that Trump’s picks would “result in conflicts of interest that benefit big business at the expense of regular people,” according to a poll by the left-leaning Public Policy Polling (PPP) obtained exclusively by The Hill. Thirty-eight percent said they weren’t concerned.
PPP polled voters in Delaware, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Wisconsin and West Virginia for a survey commissioned by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a liberal outside group. The poll was conducted in the midst of the Senate’s confirmation battle over Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
The poll question noted that Trump has named “numerous bankers and Wall Street billionaires” that could “result in conflicts of interest,” and then questioned if participants were “very concerned, somewhat concerned or not at all concerned.”
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The level of concerned varied in each of the states, according to the PPP survey.
For example, 66 percent of voters in Delaware — where Sen. Tom CarperThomas (Tom) Richard CarperSenate subcommittee: IRS should increase oversight of tax-prep companies in Free File program Senate report: Chinese telecom firms operated in US without proper oversight for decades House Judiciary seeks briefing on Trump order to slash regs to assist the economy MORE (D) is up for reelection — said they were very or somewhat concerned, while only half of voters in Missouri, where Sen. Claire McCaskillClaire Conner McCaskillMissouri county issues travel advisory for Lake of the Ozarks after Memorial Day parties Senate faces protracted floor fight over judges amid pandemic safety concerns Amash on eyeing presidential bid: ‘Millions of Americans’ want someone other than Trump, Biden MORE (D) is up in 2018, gave the same response.
Kait Sweeney, a spokeswoman for the PCCC, argued that the poll shows 2018 battleground-state voters “are deeply skeptical” of Trump’s Cabinet.
“Trump’s own base is now starting to see that they were sold some snake oil by the most deceptive salesman in America, creating an enormous opportunity in 2018 for Democrats if they lean into the mantle of economic populism,” she said.
The PPP poll also broke down concern when asked the same question about Trump’s nominees by political affiliation.
Though the highest level of concern among GOP voters is 35 percent in Montana and Ohio, on average of more than 57 percent of independent voters across the seven states reported being “very” or “somewhat” concerned.
That ranges from 76 percent of independent voters in Ohio, where Sen. Sherrod BrownSherrod Campbell BrownHillicon Valley: Senators raise concerns over government surveillance of protests | Amazon pauses police use of its facial recognition tech | FBI warns hackers are targeting mobile banking apps Democratic senators raise concerns over government surveillance of protests Some realistic solutions for income inequality MORE (D) is up for reelection, to 44 percent of voters in West Virginia, where Sen. Joe ManchinJoseph (Joe) ManchinTrump administration seeks to use global aid for nuclear projects Shelley Moore Capito wins Senate primary West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice wins GOP gubernatorial primary MORE (D) will be on the ballot in 2018.
Most voters who identify as Democrats said they were concerned, with an average of more than 84 percent saying they were “very” or “somewhat” concerned.
That ranges from 93 percent in Montana and 90 percent in Florida to 70 percent in West Virginia.
Red-state Democrats are under pressure from liberal groups to take a firmer stance against Trump or risk facing a primary challenger from the left.
Several liberal groups are pushing for Manchin to be removed from Senate Democratic leadership, arguing that Manchin’s lack of resistance to Trump warrants his removal as the vice chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.
Manchin is leading the Senate Democratic caucus in voting for Trump’s nominees. He’s voted against only four of Trump’s nominees: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
The PPP poll of 2,750 voters across the seven states was conducted from Feb. 3 to 4 with a mixture of telephone and online polling and has a margin of error of 1.9 percentage points.