Poll shows Arizona split on support for President Trump
Oct 17, 2017, 5:47 PM
President Donald Trump waits to greet Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
PHOENIX — Nearly half of all Arizonans have an unfavorable view of President Donald Trump, a new poll from the Phoenix-based political consulting and survey research firm Data Orbital found.
According to the poll, 49 percent of Arizonans either have a somewhat or strongly unfavorable view of Trump.
In contrast, 42 percent of Arizonans either have a somewhat or strongly favorable view of the president.
Eight percent have a neutral or no opinion of Trump, while 1 percent of respondents did not answer the question.
The president still holds a high favorability with Republicans: 77 percent of Republican voters in Arizona said they are strongly or somewhat favorable of Trump.
George Khalaf, president of Data Orbital, said this finding was not surprising.
“Arizona, particularly, has a strong showing for Republicans in a general election – especially in a midterm,” he said. “That, I think, is what’s keeping his numbers better off in Arizona than he is nationally. Republicans are a strong plurality of likely general-election voters.”
Democrats, on the other hand, viewed Trump unfavorably by an 85 percent margin, while independents viewed him unfavorably by a 13 percent margin.
The poll also asked Arizonans how motivated they are to vote in the state’s general election in 2018, when Sen. Jeff Flake could go head-to-head with his Democratic challenger for his Senate seat.
More than 70 percent of respondents said they were extremely motivated to vote in the election that is more than a year away, while 19 percent said they were somewhat motivated and 9 percent said they were 50-50.
Survey participants were also asked if they supported or opposed Proposition 305, a measure that overturns new legislation, making all K-12 students eligible to apply for an Empowerment Scholarship Account.
The results were tied between supporters and opponents, with 22 percent undecided – which Khalaf said is not a good sign.
“Any time a proposition begins this far below 50 percent — and with no money spent on either side — it normally bodes poorly for the ‘yes’ side,” he said.
The poll was conducted between Oct. 11 and 14 using 800 respondents. More than 40 percent of the respondents were registered Republicans. Thirty-two percent were registered as Democrat, while 26 percent were independent.
KTAR News’ Kathy Cline contributed to this report.
