Raleigh, N.C. – An overwhelming majority of North Carolina voters oppose using tax dollars to fund political campaigns of state candidates, according to a new poll released today by the Civitas Institute.
According to the live caller poll of 600 likely voters, 76 percent of voters said they oppose using tax dollars to finance the campaigns of candidates for State Treasurer, Agriculture Commissioner and other state offices. Sixteen percent of voters said they support it, and 8 percent said they are not sure.
“North Carolina is in the midst of its most dire financial crisis since the Great Depression,” said Civitas Institute Senior Legislative Analyst Chris Hayes. “Voters have made it very clear that the last thing they want is for taxes to be raised in order to finance the campaigns of office-seekers.”
Opposition to the proposal remains a bipartisan issue among North Carolina voters as Republicans oppose it by a 78 percent-17 percent margin. Seventy-eight percent of Democratic voters also oppose the measure with just 14 percent in support. Among unaffiliated voters, the margin of opposition is 71 percent-19 percent.
“Once again we see an issue where the leadership of the General Assembly is out of touch with the opinions of a vast majority of North Carolina voters,” added Hayes.
Public financing laws allow for candidates to use taxpayer funds to support their campaigns. Several states already have such legislation in place, with either direct public financing to candidates or minimal financing through taxpayer contributions found on tax returns. North Carolina lawmakers and campaign reform advocates have been trying to expand the list of state offices eligible for public financing since 2007.
The Civitas Poll is the only monthly live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina. For more information on Civitas polling see www.nccivitas.org/media/poll-results/.
Full text of question:
Do you support or oppose using tax dollars to finance the campaigns of candidates for State Treasurer, Agriculture Commissioner and other state offices?
Strongly support – 7%
Somewhat support – 9%
Somewhat oppose – 13%
Strongly oppose – 63%
Not sure – 8%
SUPPORT – 16%
OPPOSE – 76%
Click here for full results and crosstabs.
This poll of 600 likely general election voters in North Carolina was conducted July 19-21, 2010 by Tel Opinion Research of Alexandria, Virginia. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered voters in North Carolina. For purposes of this study, voters we interviewed had to have voted in either the 2004, 2006 or 2008 general elections or were newly registered voters since 2008.
The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.” True Values refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in either the 2004, 2006 or 2008 general elections or were newly registered voters since 2008.
###
Leave a Comment