The Tennessean/Siena College Poll: Portrait of the Tennessee Voter
- Majorities Oppose Rejecting Fed Education Funding, Support Medicaid Expansion & Prefer Sales Tax Reduction to Rainy Day Fund Deposit
- On National Issues: Trump over Biden by 29 Points, Support Aid to Israel, Divided on Helping Ukraine, Say Build the Wall 57-33%
- Tennesseans Give State High Grades on Friendliness, Weather & Safety; Cite Cost of Living, Affordable Housing & Infrastructure as Only Fair or Poor; Majority Says Minorities Experience Discrimination; By 58 – 27% Oppose Changing Confederate Names on Landmarks
“If a majority of Tennessee residents made the laws, we’d see a red-flag law, legislation on storage of firearms, a less restrictive abortion law, Medicaid expansion, and legalizing both medical and recreational cannabis. This survey highlights a surprising disconnect between majority public opinion on these issues and legislative action. When it comes to national politics, Tennessee remains deeply red favoring Trump over Biden by 29 points, and a wall along the southern border by 24 points. But, a decided majority say climate change is no hoax.”
“Overall, Tennesseans grade their state highly giving high marks to the weather, the feeling of personal safety, availability of quality healthcare, and how friendly people are. However, many state residents say they are struggling with the cost of living, and nearly 40% would have to borrow money to handle a $1000 emergency. While most plan to still be living in Tennessee five years from today, they call for improvements in the quality of the state’s infrastructure, and the availability of affordable housing.”
“A majority of Tennesseans believe minorities experience discrimination, and 39% agree that people of color cannot break free from poverty due to a system of public policies and market practices that disadvantage the BIPOC community. There is a stark difference in opinion between white and Black Tennesseans on these issues. In the classroom, Tennesseans oppose banning diversity programs and support teaching about slavery with little variation across racial lines. However, when it comes to renaming Confederate-named landmarks, a majority of Tennesseans oppose the taking down of signs and statues.”
“Most Tennesseans are civically engaged with 8 in 10 who are registered to vote and have also donated to a cause in the last year; a plurality has volunteered in the last 12 months. Of the Tennesseans who are registered to vote, two-thirds say they vote in almost every election. Although more respondents are tuned into what’s going on in Washington, a majority of residents keep up with both national and state politics. Tennesseans get their news and information primarily from their local TV station or social media.”
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This Tennessean/Siena College Poll was conducted November 5 – 10, 2023, among 805 Tennessee Residents Age 18 and Older. Of the 805 respondents, 520 were contacted through a dual frame (landline and cell phone) mode and 285 respondents were drawn from a proprietary online panel (Lucid). Telephone calls were conducted in English and respondent sampling was initiated by asking for the youngest person in the household. Telephone sampling was conducted via a stratified dual frame probability sample of landline and cell phone telephone numbers weighted to reflect known population patterns. The landline telephone sample was obtained from ASDE and the cell phone sample was obtained from Dynata. Data from collection modes was statistically adjusted by age, party by region, race/ethnicity, education, and gender to ensure representativeness. It has an overall margin of error of +/- 3.8 percentage points including the design effects resulting from weighting. The Siena College Research Institute, directed by Donald Levy, Ph.D., conducts political, economic, social, and cultural research primarily in NYS. SCRI, an independent, non-partisan research institute, subscribes to the American Association of Public Opinion Research Code of Professional Ethics and Practices. For more information, call Don Levy at (518) 783-2901. For survey crosstabs: www.Siena.edu/SCRI/.
