More Arizonans support Ducey’s Nike decision than oppose it, poll finds
Jul 3, 2019, 3:30 PM | Updated: 6:42 pm
(AP Photo/Matt York)
(AP Photo/Matt York)
PHOENIX – More Arizonans support Gov. Doug Ducey’s decision to cancel $1 million in incentives to Nike for a West Valley shoe plant than oppose it, a new poll found.
The move was strongly or somewhat supported by 49% of likely Arizona voters, according to OH Predictive Insights poll results released Wednesday.
It was strongly or somewhat opposed by 43%, with 7% saying it made no difference or they didn’t have an opinion.
“I was surprised the support was actually not much higher given some of the dynamics of the story, and I think it’s due to how hyper polarizing the parties have become,” Mike Noble, OH Predictive Insights chief researcher, told KTAR News 92.3 FM.
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The party split showed 74% of Republicans supporting Ducey’s move, which created national headlines, and 67% of Democrats opposing it.
Among independents, 51% supported the decision and 40% were against it.
Noble also said there was a correlation between responses and education level.
“Those that have a college degree or higher were more of an opposition, or had less support, compared with those that didn’t have a college degree or less,” he said.
“And I think it’s due to probably some of the Trump effect, with those higher educated folks … leaning away from Republicans.”
The story went viral Tuesday after Ducey’s 2 a.m. tweetstorm saying he was pulling the incentives after reading a Wall Street Journal report about Nike calling off sales of an shoe featuring a Betsy Ross-era flag design created for the Fourth of July holiday.
The Journal said Nike made the decision after social activist, company endorser and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick voiced concerns about the 13-star flag’s connection to the slavery era.
The poll was conducted Tuesday through automated phone calls that gathered 800 responses, which were weighted to reflect party affiliation, gender, region, age and ethnicity. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.46%.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Martha Maurer contributed to this report.
