Civitas Poll: Voters Say Raise Taxes in 2011, Pay the Price in 2012

May 24, 2011 JBanking & Financial Services

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Katie Trout (919) 834-2099
Katie.Trout@nccivitas.org
Civitas Poll: Voters Say Raise Taxes in 2011, Pay the Price in 2012

Raleigh, N.C. – Voters say they would be less likely to vote for a legislator in 2012 who voted for a tax increase. As the General Assembly finalizes the 2011-2012 budget proposal, a new poll released today by the Civitas Institute shows strong opposition to new taxes. The poll also found 75 percent of voters oppose a plan by Gov. Bev Perdue to raise taxes by $800 million dollars.
Seventy-three percent of voters said they would be less likely to vote for a legislator in 2012 who voted to raise taxes by over $800 million. Fifteen percent said they would be more likely to vote for a legislator who supported raising taxes, and 8 percent said they do not know or refused.

“North Carolina voters overwhelmingly reject the idea of a tax hike,” said Civitas Institute President Francis De Luca. “While those in support of new taxes now talk about education and ‘devastating’ budget cuts, voters in 2012 will only read and hear about legislators voting to raise taxes in mailers and on advertisements.”

Voter opposition remains high when asked whether they would support or oppose a plan by Governor Perdue to raise taxes by over $800 million (75 percent oppose – 17 percent support).

Furthermore, voters of all party affiliations oppose such a plan: Republicans (88 percent oppose – 6 percent support), Unaffiliated (75 percent oppose – 15 percent support), and Democratic voters (66 percent oppose – 25 percent support).

“As national political pundits rank Perdue as the most vulnerable gubernatorial incumbent in the country, saddling North Carolina citizens with another massive tax increase will not enhance her standing among voters in 2012,” added De Luca.

The Civitas Poll is the only regular live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina. For more information on Civitas polling see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/.

Full Text of Questions:

“Would you be more or less likely to vote for a legislator in 2012 who voted to raise taxes by over $800 million?”
Total More Likely – 15%
Total Less Likely – 73%
Much More Likely – 5%
Somewhat More Likely – 10%
Somewhat Less Likely – 17%
Much Less Likely – 55%
No Difference – 4%
Don’t Know/Refused – 8%

“Would you support or oppose a plan by Governor Perdue to raise taxes by over $800 million?”
Total Support – 17%
Total Oppose – 75%
Strongly Support – 6%
Somewhat Support – 11%
Somewhat Oppose – 12%
Strongly Oppose – 63%
Don’t Know/No Opinion/Refused – 8%

Click here for full results and crosstabs.

This poll of 600 registered general election voters in North Carolina was conducted May 10-11, 2011 by National Research, Inc. of Holmdel, NJ. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered voters in North Carolina. For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in two of the past four general elections or were newly registered to vote 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 two of the past four general elections or were newly registered to vote since 2008.
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