Polls

Narrow support for same-sex marriage in Minnesota

| Tom Jensen


Header-poll-results
Raleigh,
N.C. –
Minnesota
voters support legalizing same-sex marriage by a narrow 2 point margin, 47% to
45%, according to PPP’s latest poll.

The
issue splits largely along party lines: 74% of Democrats in support, 79% of Republicans
opposed and independents breaking about even. The poll also finds that 43% of
voters fully support legalizing gay marriage while 32% support civil unions but
not gay marriage. Just 23% of respondents believe there should be no legal
recognition of gay relationships.

“Minnesota’s
marriage equality advocates are in a strong starting position if they decide to
push to allow gay marriage,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy
Polling.

PPP also
found that 28% of Minnesota voters support impeaching President Obama, while
59% are opposed and 13% are not sure. 54% of Republicans, 32% of independents
and 6% of Democrats support the idea of removing Obama from office.

There is
strong support for reinstating an assault weapons ban in Minnesota, with 54% in
support and 37% opposed. The NRA’s favorability is about even at 44/43. Obama
narrowly beats the NRA 47/43 on the question of who to trust more about guns,
and voters support his recent executive orders on guns 46/40.

Hillary
Clinton is the clear favorite in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary with
59% support. Joe Biden at 14% and Amy Klobuchar at 11% are the only other potential
candidates polling above low single digits. If Clinton and Biden sit it out,
Klobuchar would be their top pick with 43% support. Klobuchar’s 65% job
approval rating closely matches her decisive 2012 election win, but 55% oppose
her running for president.

Lance
Armstrong is not popular in Minnesota right now. 65% of voters have an
unfavorable view of him, while 25% are not sure and only 11% have a favorable
opinion.

PPP surveyed 1,065 Minnesota voters and 373 usual Democratic
primary voters from January 18th to 20th. The margin of
error for the overall sample is +/-3.0% and +/-5.1% for the Democratic portion. This
poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization.
PPP surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews.

Topline results are below.  Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.

Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of President
Barack Obama’s job performance?
Approve …………………………………………………. 51%
Disapprove……………………………………………… 47%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 2%

Q2 Do you think same-sex marriage should be
allowed in Minnesota, or not?
It should be allowed …………………………………. 47%
It should not ……………………………………………. 45%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 8%

Q3 Which of the following best describes your
opinion on gay marriage: gay couples should
be allowed to legally marry, or gay couples
should be allowed to form civil unions but not
legally marry, or there should be no legal
recognition of a gay couple’s relationship?
Gay couples should be allowed to legally
marry ……………………………………………………..43%
Gay couples should be allowed to form civil
unions but not marry …………………………………32%
There should be no legal recognition of a gay
couple’s relationship …………………………………23%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 2%

Q4 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator Amy
Klobuchar’s job performance?
Approve …………….. .65%
Disapprove…………. .25%
Not sure …………….. .10%

Q5 Do you think Amy Klobuchar should run for
President in 2016, or not?
She should…………. .27%
She should not……. .55%
Not sure …………….. .18%

Q6 (Asked of 373 Democratic primary voters)
Given the choices of Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton,
Andrew Cuomo, Amy Klobuchar, Martin
O’Malley, Deval Patrick, Brian Schweitzer,
Mark Warner, and Elizabeth Warren, who
would you most like to see as the Democratic
candidate for President in 2016?
Joe Biden…………… .14%
Hillary Clinton……… .59%
Andrew Cuomo …… . 3%
Amy Klobuchar …… .11%
Martin O’Malley…… . 1%
Deval Patrick………. . 0%
Brian Schweitzer …. . 0%
Mark Warner ………. . 0%
Elizabeth Warren … . 4%
Someone else/Not
sure…………………….10%

Q7 (Asked of 373 Democratic primary voters) If
neither Hillary Clinton nor Joe Biden ran for
President in 2016, who would you most like to
see as the Democratic nominee?
Andrew Cuomo …… .14%
Amy Klobuchar …… .43%
Martin O’Malley…… . 1%
Deval Patrick………. . 1%
Brian Schweitzer …. . 0%
Mark Warner ………. . 0%
Elizabeth Warren … .10%
Someone else/Not
sure…………………….30%

Q8 Would you support or oppose banning assault
weapons?
Support ……………… .54%
Oppose ……………… .37%
Not sure …………….. .10%

Q9 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of the National Rifle Association?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 44%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 13%

Q10 Do you support or oppose the executive orders
President Obama issued on guns this week?
Support ……………… .46%
Oppose ……………… .40%
Not sure …………….. .14%

Q11 Who do you trust more on the issue of guns:
Barack Obama or the NRA?
Barack Obama……. .47%
The NRA……………. .43%
Not sure …………….. .11%

Q12 Would you support or opposing impeaching
President Obama?
Support ……………… .28%
Oppose ……………… .59%
Not sure …………….. .13%

Q13 If the candidates for President in 2016 were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Chris
Christie, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 44%
Chris Christie ………………………………………….. 38%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 17%

Q14 If the candidates for President in 2016 were
Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Republican
Chris Christie, who would you vote for?
Amy Klobuchar ……………………………………….. 42%
Chris Christie ………………………………………….. 39%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 19%

Q15 If the candidates for President in 2016 were
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican
Marco Rubio, who would you vote for?
Hillary Clinton………………………………………….. 50%
Marco Rubio …………………………………………… 37%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 13%

Q16 If the candidates for President in 2016 were
Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Republican
Marco Rubio, who would you vote for?
Amy Klobuchar ……………………………………….. 48%
Marco Rubio …………………………………………… 36%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 16%

Q17 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Lance Armstrong?
Favorable……………………………………………….. 11%
Unfavorable ……………………………………………. 65%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 25%

Q18 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 13%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 22%
Moderate………………………………………………… 27%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 24%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 14%

Q19 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 50%
Man……………………………………………………….. 50%

Q20 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 39%
Republican……………………………………………… 29%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 33%

Q21 If you are white, press 1. If other, press 2
White …………………………………………………….. 93%
Other……………………………………………………… 7%

Q22 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 9%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 32%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 39%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 20%

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