A University of Delaware Center for Political Communication poll found a majority of Delawareans hold favorable views of Governor Jack Markell and all three members of the state’s Congressional delegation.
The telephone survey, conducted on a September 16-28, interviewed 900 registered Delaware voters by landline and cell phone.
Sixty-two percent of the respondents viewed Markell favorably, while 25 percent viewed him unfavorably. Markell will leave office in January after serving the maximum of two terms.
Markell, a Democrat, served as the state’s chief executive during a deep economic downturn and more recently when DuPont Co. announced steep job cuts.
Employment in the state has returned to pre-recession levels, but income growth has been sluggish.
U.S. Sen. Tom Carper was viewed even more positively, with a 64 percent positive and a percent rating him unfavorably.
U.S. Rep. and gubernatorial candidate John Carney, gained a favorable rating of 59 percent and an unfavorable rating from 18 percent. Fifty-six percent of those polled rated Senator Chris Coons favorably, versus 25 percent who rated him unfavorably.z
State Attorney General Matt Denn was rated favorably by almost half of the respondents (47 percent ), while 16 percent rated him unfavorably. More than half of the respondents (55 percent ) did not grade State Treasurer Ken Simpler, but those who rated him tended to view him more favorably (34 percent ) than unfavorably (10 percent).
Simpler, one of two statewide Republican officeholders, is considered a rising star, but has maintained a low profile when compared to his controversial predecessor Democrat Chip Flowers. Flowers clashed frequently with Gov. Jack Markell. Simpler stuck to his pledge of conducting the business of the office and not
Simpler stuck to his pledge of conducting the business of the office and not staking out economic or other agendas that Flowers had undertaken.
Not surveyed were the posts of Insurance Commissioner, where incumbent Karen Weldin-Stewart lost a primary battle to New Castle County Sheriff, Trinidad Navarro; and Audit General, a post held by Republican Tom Wagner.
The National Agenda Opinion Project research was funded by the University of Delaware’s Center for Political Communication (CPC) and the William P. Frank Foundation. The study was supervised by the CPC’s Research Director, Paul Brewer, a professor in the Departments of Communication and Political Science & International Relations.
Results are based on telephone interviews with a representative sample of 900 registered voters. Telephone interviews were conducted by landline (450) and cell phone (450, including 187 without a landline). The survey was conducted from September 16-28, 2016, by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. Results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is a plus-minus 3.8 percentage points.
In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
