by Jake Carmin
A new poll by Colorado Mesa University’s Social Research Center shows Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and democratic incumbent Michael Bennet, the senator leading in Colorado.
The poll, the Social Research Center’s first foray into the polling world, was produced in partnership with Rocky Mountain PBS, as well as the Center for Opinion Research at Pennsylvania’s Franklin and Marshall College. The pollsters surveyed 174 Republicans, 172 Democrats and 154 Independent Colorado voters from various regions of the state.
In addition to recording Colorado voters’ candidate preferences, the researchers asked an array of questions pertaining to the candidate’s qualities, including qualifications, character and trustworthiness. Furthermore, the poll considered data based on past voting performance, to determine which participants were likely to actually vote. This increased the accuracy of the predictions.
The Social Research Center found that Clinton leads Donald Trump among likely voters by nine points, though only by seven points when factoring in Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein. Republicans and Democrats support their candidate by similar margins, but Independent voters lean heavily towards Clinton. Johnson takes the votes of just over a quarter of Independent voters, and Stein takes five percent.
Trump is particularly strong among Colorado voters in the northeast, south and central regions of the state, and has a strong showing among voters who own guns, identify as fundamentalist Christians and non-college educated whites. Clinton, in contrast, leads in Denver as well as the western area of the state. She draws support from women, non-whites and the religiously unaffiliated.
Though the survey finds neither major-party candidate to be popular with voters, Trump is deeply unpopular. Only 19 percent of voters consider the billionaire to have the experience required of a President, compared to 60 percent with Clinton. A majority of those surveyed considered neither candidate to be trustworthy.
The researchers also asked participants about Colorado’s U.S. senate race. Unlike the Presidential candidates, Bennett has a positive approval rating, and leads challenger Darryl Glenn by 13 percentage points. Glenn, a Republican, isn’t a known candidate to many voters, and has favorable and unfavorable ratings. The survey found that around 20 percent of voters are undecided in this race.
Four of the state’s ballot issues were included in the survey. Fewer than half of voters report hearing a “a fair amount” or “a great deal” about theses issues. Amendment 69, which would set up statewide healthcare, is the most opposed, garnering only 15 percent support; perhaps due to its controversy, it is the issue Colorado voters are most familiar with.
Proposition 106, which would legalize medical aid in dying, is supported by 70 percent of registered voters. Amendment 70, which would raise the state minimum wage, is supported by 58 percent of registered voters, while Amendment 71, which would restrict the Colorado constitution’s amendment process, is supported by 52 percent. Voters reported the least amount of awareness for Amendment 71, and nearly 30 percent do not know whether they support or oppose it.
You can find the full poll results at www.coloradomesa.edu/src.
