In time for Easter season, Waverly church finds higher ground after deadly 2021 floods

Vanderbilt Poll: Nashvillians give local leaders high marks in COVID-19 response

Yihyun Jeong
Nashville Tennessean

An overwhelming majority of Nashville residents polled by Vanderbilt University approves the response of local leaders to the coronavirus despite rising economic anxiety from the ongoing pandemic. 

The poll, released Thursday and conducted April 9 to May 10, found an 80% approval rating for Mayor John Cooper — the highest rating of any Nashville mayor since Vanderbilt first conducted the annual poll in 2015. 

His approval crosses party lines, with 70% of Republicans and 86% of Democrats agreeing on the job he is doing. The survey of 1,036 registered voters in Davidson County also gave high marks to Metro Nashville Schools Director Adrienne Battle, with 79% approval of her job performance.

Approval ratings for the 40-person Metro Council went up this year to 70% as well as a significant jump in support for school board members from 37% to 68%. 

A majority of Nashville respondents also approved of the measures taken by local government, with 90% agreeing with stay-at-home policies, 85% supporting non-essential business closures and 96% supporting the decision to close school. 

Stay connected to your community:  Subscriptions are only $1 for 3 months during our Memorial Day sale

Cooper and health officials first issued strict orders on March 15 as they tried to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Bars were ordered to shut down and restaurants were to operate at half capacity.  

Then, more restrictive steps: only take-out, delivery or curbside services and the closure of gyms. Officials on March 22 implemented a "Safer at Home" order that closed all non-essential services in the city — essentially prohibiting any large gatherings.

The city moved to phase one of its reopening road map in early May that allowed restaurants and some businesses to open at half capacity. Officials will announce in the next few days if they will move on to the next phase

“Local residents are understandably anxious about the pandemic, but they are very pleased by the response of local officials so far,” said John Geer, a Vanderbilt University political science professor who helped oversee the poll for the school. “Mayor Cooper rightly gets a lot of credit for how he’s handled the COVID-19 crisis. This support will be invaluable as he wrestles with some difficult decisions ahead concerning budgets and getting the city back on track.”

Nashvillians' habits during the pandemic

The poll suggests Nashvillians continue to be worried about the spread of the virus with 52% feeling "very concerned" that they or someone they are close to will get sick, and an additional 30% reporting they are "somewhat concerned." 

Seventy-four percent said they practice social distancing strictly, while another 20% said they stick to it most of the time.

Josh Clinton, co-director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions and political science director said there are partisan differences in attitudes toward the virus. 

"Democrats and Independents are much more likely to be very worried about catching COVID-19 than Republicans and, perhaps as a result, Republicans were somewhat less supportive of social distancing policies than Democrats and Independents," Clinton said. 

The poll comes during one of the most tumultuous periods of Nashville's history. Despite the pandemic and the devastation of the March tornado, more Nashvillians believe the city is generally on the right track from last year. Sixty-three percent of respondents said the city is moving the right direction, up the from 53% the previous year. 

Eighty-five percent supported Metro's response to the tornado. 

Polled on the response by federal leaders, Congressman Jim Cooper's approval got a boost to 76% in the work he's done this year. Approval ratings for President Donald Trump remained stagnant with only 33% approving the working done in the White House. 

Economic worries grow

While supportive of the city's response to the virus, respondents were more worried about their financial outlook. The rating for Nashville's economy shot down to 62% from 82% last year, according to the poll. 

Some polling data in includes:

  • 57% feeling "very" or "moderately" worried about not having enough for emergencies.
  • 52% worried about being unable to pay monthly bills.
  • 58% worried about saving for retirement and education.
  • 54% worried they or someone in their household will lose their job, hours or wages.

A record number of Tennesseans have filed for unemployment since the week COVID-19 forced officials to take health measures. The economy came to a halt with various sectors seeing record losses in revenue. 

More:As state works to reopen economy, 37,000 Tennesseans filed unemployment claims last week, lowest since March

Tennessee stands to lose an estimated $5 billion to pandemic-related closures this year, according to state leaders. In Nashville, the pandemic has meant an estimated loss of $470 million in revenue over the next 16 months.

Cooper plans to offset the drop in revenue with a hotly contested proposed property tax hike of nearly 32% and other budget cuts.

Looking at the city's budget crisis, respondents showed a higher appetite for cutting funds for affordable housing and raising property taxes compared to cutting funds for Nashville schools and public safety. 

Approval for the Metro Nashville Police Department also got a boost in approval in this year's poll, to 86%. 

There's some partisan divide on how to approach the budget, with Democrats and Independents more in support of raising property taxes while Republican are more willing to prioritize cuts to affordable housing. Broadly, Nashvillians are united on protecting public school funding. 

Support for charter schools dropped in this year's poll to 21% of respondents saying they support charter schools from 30% last year. Opposition for charter schools rose to 17% from 15% last year's Vanderbilt poll.

Cooper's "crisis" budget set aside $914.9 million for schools — a relatively flat budget compared to the previous year — as the city scrambles to adapt to constricted revenues caused by COVID-19 shutdowns and as long-stewing economic imbalances come to the forefront. 

The district will ask Metro Council this week to approve an additional $15 million in order to avoid further cuts made to maintain cost-of-living raises for employees and to fund text books. 

Twelve members make up the Vanderbilt University Poll Board which for statewide polls, including Bill Phillips, the chief-of-staff and deputy mayor for Mayor Cooper, and Lisa Quigley, chief of staff for Rep. Cooper. Vanderbilt said there is no board Nashville poll.

Yihyun Jeong covers politics in Nashville for USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE. Reach her at yjeong@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @yihyun_jeong.