WaPo/Schar Poll: Youngkin’s Net Approval of +13 Much Lower Than Several Other Governors; Only 17% Want Stricter Abortion Laws; Just 31% Think Youngkin Would Be a Good President

A new poll by the Washington Post and the Schar School of Policy and Government at GMU is out; here are some key findings.

• Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s approval/disapproval rating, 1 year and 3 months into his term, stands at 52%-39% (+13 points). This compares to Bob McDonnell’s 64%-26% (+38 points) rating 1 year and 5 months into his term; Tim Kaine’s 63%-25% (+38 points) rating 1 year and 10 months into his term; Mark Warner’s 80%-17% (+63 points) rating towards the end of his term; etc. For more historical comparisons of approval/disapproval ratings, see here.
• “Male and female Virginia voters largely agree, though, that they do not want Youngkin to run for president. Overall, 56 percent of Virginia voters say he would not make a good president while 31 percent say he would.”
• “The Post-Schar School poll finds that most Virginia voters oppose the idea of tightening access to abortions. Overall, 34 percent say abortion laws should ‘remain as they are’ and 41 percent say they should be ‘less strict,’ while 17 percent say abortion laws should be made ‘more strict.'”
• “While fewer than 2 in 10 Virginia voters want tighter restrictions in general, they find Youngkin’s policy by itself less objectionable. Forty-nine percent of voters say they would support a 15-week ban with those exceptions, while 46 percent oppose it.”
• Youngkin’s best ratings are on the economy (53% approve-32% disapprove); education (50% approve-41% disapprove); and – weirdly – ” Ensuring equal treatment of racial and ethnic groups” (46% approve-37% disapprove). Youngkin’s worst ratings are on “Transgender issues (30% approve-43% disapprove); abortion (33% approve-45% disapprove); and gun policy (42% approve-39% disapprove).
• On the question, “Overall, do you think Youngkin has done (more to unite) Virginia or (more to divide) Virginia?”, respondents are pretty even divided (48% “more to unite” vs. 43% “more to divide”).
• On the question, “Do you think Glenn Youngkin’s ideas and policies are (similar to) Donald Trump’s or (different from) Trump’s?,” 60% say “similar” and just 32% say “different.”
• By a 52%-40% margin, Virginians oppose “preventing trans girls from competing in sports with other girls”; by a 55%-36% margin, Virginians oppose ” preventing trans students from using bathrooms corresponding with a different gender than their birth sex”; by a 59%-36% margin, Virginians support ” requiring schools to notify parents
  if their child identifies with a different name or different gender
  pronouns.”