University of New Orleans ScholarWorks@UNO Survey Research Center Publications Survey Research Center (UNO Poll) 10-2015 2015 Louisiana Governor Election Poll Edward E. Chervenak University of New Orleans Survey Research Center, University of New Orleans Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uno.edu/src_pubs Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Chervenak, Edward E. and Survey Research Center, University of New Orleans, "2015 Louisiana Governor Election Poll" (2015). Survey Research Center Publications. Paper 37. https://scholarworks.uno.edu/src_pubs/37 This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Survey Research Center (UNO Poll) at ScholarWorks@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in Survey Research Center Publications by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 2015 Louisiana Governor Election Poll The University of New Orleans Survey Research Center, in association with Lucid, has conducted a statewide opt-in Internet poll to gauge the preferences of registered voters in the upcoming October 24th primary election for governor. As telephone-based political polls become more challenging to conduct and their accuracy has come into question, researchers are beginning to experiment with new non-probability sampling methodologies and weighting data to be representative of the population of interest. Opt-in Internet polls come with some caveats. One issue is the demographic differences in Internet access and usage with respect to age. Another concern is that the respondents are not selected through a random sampling procedure. Participating respondents were solicited for their views on the election from a larger pool of respondents voluntarily participating in unrelated market research surveys. While they did not explicitly opt-in to respond to a political survey, respondents are voluntarily participants in market research. Because we are working with a non-probability sample, we cannot calculate a scientific margin of error. Nor is it possible to infer from the sample to the larger population of registered voters. That being said, the sample has been weighted to reflect the age, race, and gender categories of registered voters in the October 1, 2015 registered voter file from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office. Despite the qualifications of this new survey tool, the results are on trend with what has been found in other statewide polls. 623 registered voters were surveyed on Lucid’s Fulcrum Exchange. Respondents from Louisiana participating in unrelated market research studies were asked about the upcoming gubernatorial primary. The survey was conducted from October 14, 2015 to October 19, 2015. The poll shows that Republican David Vitter has a slight lead over the Democratic candidate John Bel Edwards. Two other Republicans, Jay Dardenne and Scott Angelle, lag behind the top two candidates by double digits. Additionally, nearly one-quarter of the respondents from this poll say they are undecided on whom they will support. Our results comport with what has been found in other more traditional polls. While the numbers have varied across all the polls, the general trend has been Vitter and Bel Edwards ahead of Angelle and Dardenne. Vote for Governor 27% 25% 23% 14% 11% David John Bel Sco Jay Undecided Vier Edwards Angelle Dardenne Vote for Governor by Gender David Vi[er 35% 21% John Bel Edwards 22% 27% Sco Angelle 12% 10% Jay Dardenne 13% 15% Undecided 19% 26% Male Female Gender is having some influence over vote choice. In fact, we find there is a gender gap in David Vitter’s support. Over one-third of male respondents endorse him compared to 20% of females. Conversely, more women than men report they will go with the Democratic candidate in the election. Men and women are evenly split when it comes to supporting Scott Angelle and Jay Dardenne. Women are also more likely than men to report they are still undecided. Vote for Governor by Race David Vi[er 34% 14% 30% John Bel Edwards 17% 44% 7% Sco Angelle 16% 8% 27% Jay Dardenne 12% 9% 13% Undecided 21% 25% 23% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% White Black Other Whites are twice as likely to report they will vote for David Vitter then for any other candidate. Vitter also does relatively well with minority registered voters, garnering 14% of African-Americans and 30% of non-black minorities. As the Democratic candidate, Bel Edwards captures the plurality of the African-American vote, but does very poorly with white voters. Scott Angelle’s does well with non- black minorities, but is not attracting a lot of white or African-American support. Likewise for Jay Dardenne who is also lagging with white and African-American voters. African-Americans are slightly more likely than other ethnic and racial groups to say they are undecided. David Vi[er John Bel Edwards 13% 18% 13% 41% 9% 41% Independent Republican Democrat Independent Republican Democrat Sco Angelle Jay Dardenne 9% 9% 10% 16% 20% 14% Independent Republican Democrat Independent Republican Democrat Undecided 23% 48% 17% Independent Republican Democrat Partisanship is also structuring vote choice. Republicans are most likely to support Vitter while Democrats are most likely to back their candidate, Bel Edwards. However, Democrats are twice as likely to defect to Vitter then are Republicans to defect to Bel Edwards. In fact, 36% of Democratic identifiers say they are going to vote for a Republican candidate. Angelle does slightly better with Independents then the other candidates. Nearly half of Independents are undecided in their choice for governor as are nearly one-quarter of Democrats. Vote for Governor by Family Income Vier 24% 23% 34% 30% Bel Edwards 16% 34% 25% 21% Angelle 15% 18% 17% 7% Dardenne 11% 6% 11% 17% Undecided 33% 19% 15% 25% Less than $5,000 to $29,999 $30,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $74,999 $75,000 or more Vote choice is also being influenced by total family income. Vitter does best with the poorest and the wealthiest respondents. While he secured support from one- quarter of the poorest respondents, he’s also received 64% from those who earn $50,000 or more. Bel Edwards does best with lower middle income earners, garnering one-third of those respondents. However, he is not attracting the lowest income earners, and, in fact, is doing no better with that group than are his Republican challengers. One-third of low income earners are still up for grabs as are one-quarter of the high income respondents. Vote for Governor by Age 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% David Vi[er John Bel Edwards Sco Angelle Jay Dardenne Undecided 18-20 Years Old 21-34 Years Old 35-44 Years Old 45-54 Years Old 55-64 Years Old 65 and over The respondent’s age also influences candidate preference. The youngest voters are more likely to report they are undecided, and they are also more favorable toward the Democratic candidate than any of the Republicans. About one-third of the next youngest members, 21-34 years old, are found in Vitter’s column. About one-quarter, however, are still undecided. The 35 to 44 year old age group is most likely to report they are undecided about their choice. Relatively equal percentages of these respondents support Vitter and Bel Edwards. The Democratic candidate does best with the 45 to 54 year old age category, taking nearly 30% of this age group. A relatively equal percentage is undecided as to whom to choose. Bel Edwards also performs best with the 55 to 64 year old age group. He receives the backing of about one-quarter of these folks. Another 28% are undecided. The age group most committed to a candidate are the oldest registered voters in the sample. A solid 45% of these respondents are advocates for David Vitter. Bel Edwards also does relatively well with this group. The oldest age group has also made its collective mind up on whom to vote for in the primary. .