JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The election is less than a month away and a new poll is looking closer at local races and items on the ballot.
The Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida surveyed registered likely voters in Duval County about topics like the half-cent sales tax and the JEA referendum that many of you will be voting on soon. Hundreds of people were surveyed from Oct. 1 through 4.
The poll asked people if they will vote for the 15 year half-cent sales tax to benefit Duval County schools and improve them to safety standards. Dr. Mike Binder, PORL faculty director, says 69% are in favor of it and the support has not waivered since an earlier June poll.
JEA appears on the ballot with a referendum to allow the City Council the authority to appoint and remove four JEA board members. Of those surveyed, 76% say they will vote in favor of it.
“JEA has had a brutal year," Binder said. "Former CEOs facing investigations, lots of people under federal investigations and we don’t even know where that is going yet. This proposal, this referendum, would give the city council ability to appoint four members of the board and that would diversity the oversite of the JEA board."
The poll also asked about the Congressional District 4 race for the US House of Representatives. Democrat Donna Deegan is running against republican incumbent representative John Rutherford.
Binder says results from the survey show 57% are planning on voting for Rutherford. He believes the election results this November will be the same, saying if Deegan were to win it would be a major upset in a majority Republican district.
“That’s a very difficult race for a democrat to win. No matter who the Democrat is. John Kennedy would have trouble winning that district," Binder said.
While it is not an election year for Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry or Sheriff Mike Williams, the survey did ask people if they approve of the job they are doing. Both of their approval ratings have gone up since people were polled on these topics in June.
The results showed that 30% of those surveyed say crime is the biggest issue Jacksonville is facing, which is a change since the last poll in June. Binder says in June, 22% said COVID-19 was the city's biggest issue.
“COVID in some ways is becoming more embedded in our lives and it is not taking that same forefront that maybe it was in June when we were in the middle of a shutdown," Binder explained.
Binder also acknowledged that poll results vary based on current events happening at the time.
Results show 65% of those surveyed believe officers with JSO are going to do the right thing either all or most of the time. This number as increased since June when people were protesting in the city more often.
The survey asked if deaths of Black people at the hands of police are a sign of a broader systemic issue or an isolated issue. The results show 58% say it's a broader systemic issue. That response has stayed the same since June and Binder believes people are not wavering on this topic.
He says elected officials should review these results and use this information to know what topics they need to address and work on.
As for methodology, PORL says:
"The survey was administered through email via Qualtrics, an online survey platform. The sample frame was comprised of 863 registered likely voters in Congressional District 4, and 545 registered likely voters in Duval County, 18 years of age or older. Likely voters were determined a self-identified likelihood to vote. The email addresses used for this survey were sourced from the Florida’s Division of Elections October 2020 update and selected through the use of probability sampling among registered voters in the Florida voter file. A sample of Congressional District 4 was also used, including voters in Duval, Nassau, and St. Johns counties."