A new poll finds more than half of Washington residents expect things to improve in their communities in the next year, but our optimism has faded a bit.
“We actually saw a drop in people’s optimism since the last time we asked this question, which was about 6 months ago right at the end of the year,” says political reporter Melissa Santos.
Santos says the new Crosscut/Elway poll finds areas where people saw their communities slipping are crime and homelessness.
A large majority of respondents say race relations and the history of slavery are important issues.
“We saw 83% of people did say yes, slavery and the history of race relations are important,” says Santos. “They said they should be taught that way in school, as being very important.”
With voting integrity making headlines the poll found just 21% think it should be harder to vote.
And only 13% of respondents say they won’t get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
That was down from almost 20% in April.
And political party affiliation is changing with 46% saying they won’t register with either party, 36% identifying as Democrats and just 18% saying they’re Republicans.