Santa may find Marylanders less than jolly when he arrives in the Old Line State later this week.
A poll released Monday by the Institute of Politics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County surveyed residents on the upcoming holidays. Mileah Kromer, a political science professor and director of the poll, said many of the answers spoke to how people feel about the current state of political affairs in the country.
“Right now, everything is just so driven by the way people view the other party. And right now, Republicans are in charge, and Democrats really don’t like it,” Kromer said. “And a lot of Democrats believe very strongly that Donald Trump, the Republican Party, is a threat to American democracy, and it turns up in our numbers here.”
To start, 41% of those responding said the holiday season would be more financially stressful this year. That is on top of 46% who said they expected their stress level to be about the same as last year.
But 67% of Republicans in the survey said financial stress would be less or about the same as last year, compared to 53% of Democrats.
The poll surveyed 801 Maryland adults, including 769 registered voters, from Dec. 2-6. The margin of error for both pools of respondents is plus or minus 3.5%.
The look to the new year seems bleak, too.
Two-thirds of those in the poll said they expected divisions between people based on political affiliation would be worse. The number was driven by 77% of Democrats who said they expected things to be worse.
More than 50% of Marylanders said the overall quality of life for most Americans and American democracy would be worse in 2027.
A plurality — 44% — said they expected a sense of stability in life to be worse in the coming year.
The poll is not just a stocking full of coal.
“Here’s the good news: 63% of us say we’re going to prepare holiday meals and baked goods,” Kromer said.
More than eight in 10 Republicans said they were certain, or there was at least some chance, they would prepare a holiday meal or make baked goods in the weeks from Thanksgiving to mid-January. That compared to 77% of Democrats who said the same.
Also during that holiday period:
- 58% said they planned to shop for gifts.
- 53% planned to attend a gathering or party.
- 46% plan to attend a religious service.
- 45% planned to visit family or friends.
- 38% planned to host a gathering or party.
- 36% said they would attend events such as holiday markets, light displays or shows.
- 21% said they planned a vacation.
Finally, the vast majority of Maryland residents are not making resolutions for the coming year.
Kromer had not previously asked this question and had no baseline to compare responses this year. Still, the results were unsatisfying, she said.
“I actually don’t know how many people typically make these new year’s resolutions, to be honest,” she said. “Anecdotally, I thought it would be higher. I was a little bit disappointed that there weren’t more resolution makers among my fellow Marylanders.”
Nearly three out of four who responded said they would not make a resolution for the coming year. About one-fifth of those who answered said they would make a resolution. Of the resolution-makers, the list included:
- 8% who said they would work to improve their health or well-being.
- 55% who said they would work on some general self-improvement.
- 4% who said they would work on their finances, work or stability.
- 3% who said they would work to fix politics, government, or society.
- 2% said they wanted to improve their personal life, relationships with family, faith, and community.
Kromer did not ask Marylanders if they thought they could be consistent with their resolutions.
But let’s be honest: We know the gyms will get less crowded around Valentine’s Day