Polling released Thursday by Roanoke College found the majority of Virginians are either optimistic or hopeful for the future of the United States ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term in the White House.
The survey found 60 percent of Virginians have a positive view of Trump’s reelection, with 32 percent of Virginians hopeful as they approach Trump’s second term in office, and an additional 28 percent telling pollsters they will respond optimistically to the president-elect regaining the White House.
Just 38 percent of respondents expressed concern about Trump’s second term, with 25 percent telling pollsters they are “fearful,” while 13 percent reported being “pessimistic” about the president-elect.
Roanoke College also found Trump is back to his highest level of favorability it has seen in nine years of polling Trump’s ratings, with 41 percent of Virginians holding a favorable view of the president-elect and 55 percent holding an unfavorable view. Trump’s approval is up three percent from the pollsters’ October 2024 survey.
Trump’s 41 percent favorability may represent a high water mark for his ratings in Virginia, as the last time the pollsters found 41 percent held a favorable view of Trump in the commonwealth was October 2020, when 56 percent of respondents also held a negative view as the then-president ran his first race for reelection.
The election may have also instilled confidence in America’s democratic process for some Virginians, as 8 percent more respondents agreed with the statement, “Ordinary citizens can do a lot to influence the government in Washington if they are willing to make the effort,” in November than when pollsters asked in May.
In the earlier survey, just 41 percent of respondents told pollsters that citizens can influence the government, while 48 percent said they cannot. In November, 59 percent said Americans can have an impact, while just 39 percent said the opposite.
Pollsters also recorded a five-point swing in the number of respondents who said America’s best years are ahead, with 50 percent of Virginians now agreeing with the statement, while 47 percent say the country’s best days are in the past.
Trump’s election also coincided with an 8 percent change in the number of Americans who say the federal government makes their life better, up to 48 percent in November from 40 percent in October. The number respondents who were unsure about their answer decreased from 16 percent to 7 percent over the same period.
While approval of the government may be rising in Virginia, the survey reported only half the commonwealth trust pollsters, and only 13 percent reported placing “a great deal” of trust in prognosticators. By comparison, 49 percent of respondents reported an unfavorable view of pollsters, with 19 percent saying they place no trust in them and 30 percent trusting them “not very much.”
Trust in the media fared even worse among Virginians, with Roanoke College pollsters finding just 7 percent of the commonwealth’s voters place “a great deal” of trust in media outlets including “newspapers, TV, and radio.”
An additional 33 percent said they place a “fair” amount of trust in the media, while 39 percent place little trust in the media, and 21 percent told pollsters they place no trust at all in traditional media sources.
The pollsters reported a 4.4 percent margin of error after interviewing 652 Virginians between November 11 and November 16.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photos by Dan Scavino.
