Poll: WA feels good about the economy, bad about Trump's tariffs
The differences between the dry side of Washington and the wetter west are abundant. To the east, Washingtonians bask in the sun, skew conservative, and pride themselves on their rural agriculture. On the other side of the Cascade Range, the population is concentrated in overcast Seattle, where tech startups proliferate and the voters lean left, though the entire western portion of the state does split more evenly when it comes to politics.
Yet, both sides have been impacted by the Trump administration’s economic policies, along with the rest of the nation. Tax cuts passed in late 2017 have lowered rates for a majority of tax brackets, with the richest 20% receiving half of the benefits. An embrace of tariffs has resulted in a trade war that has affected balance sheets and pocketbooks. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has dropped to the lowest it’s been in 50 years, at 3.7%, and, despite some volatility, the stock market remains at historic highs.
Crosscut was curious what Washington residents think of this shifting economy and whether the two sides of the state are feeling the impacts of these changes in similar or different ways. To find out, Crosscut pollster Stuart Elway, of Elway Research, conducted a poll of registered voters across the state. Between Aug. 1 and 6, he asked 500 Washingtonians questions on a variety of economic factors.
The picture that the results paint is of a population that is feeling good about the economy, but that disagrees over many of the mechanisms that shape that economy. The defining factor in many of those disagreements is partisanship, largely mirrored in our state’s geography.
The poll did find some disparity when it came to general attitudes toward the economy. One-third of both Seattle and Eastern Washington agree that their households are better off financially than two years ago, with about half saying they remained the same. But when it came to the state economy, 39% of respondents in Western Washington (including Seattle and King County) said they believe it is now stronger than it was two years ago. Meanwhile, out east, only a quarter thought it was stronger (while most felt it had stayed the same).
https://crosscut.com/2019/08/poll-wa-feels-good-about-economy-bad-about-trumps-tariffs
