Amber Integrated Quarterly Poll: Voter attitudes on elections, coronavirus, and law enforcement in Oklahoma
Public affairs firm Amber Integrated has released a quarterly tracking poll measuring Oklahoma’s political environment and testing attitudes of likely voters on issues ranging from the coronavirus to law enforcement and race. The survey was conducted from Sept. 17-20 and included a pool of 500 likely voters. The survey has a margin of error of 4.38% at a 95% confidence level. Top-line results are available here and crosstabs are available here. A summary of the results can be found below.
Public Sentiment Among Likely Voters in Oklahoma
Political Environment:
Both President Donald Trump and Republican statewide elected officials continue to get high marks from likely voters. President Trump’s approval rating stands at 58% and has fluctuated only a few points from a high of 61% (in an AI poll taken December 2019). Gov. Kevin Stitt’s approval rating is 55%, Sen. James Lankford’s is 53%, and Sen. Jim Inhofe’s is 48%.
On the presidential ballot, Donald Trump Is leading Joe Biden by a margin of 55% to 33% with just 6% undecided. At 84% support among Republicans, it is clear Trump has the support of his party and base. The “Never Trump” movement has not emerged as a significant force in Oklahoma.
On the senatorial ballot, Republican incumbent Jim Inhofe is beating Democrat Abby Broyles by 16 points. However, at just 46%, Inhofe does not have a majority of voters in his camp yet and a surprisingly large percentage (19%) of voters say they are undecided.
Of note, more than one-in-five voters say they plan on voting absentee this election cycle, which will make early outreach important for all political campaigns. Thirty-one percent of all voters and 71% of Democrats say President Trump is intentionally slowing down mail services for political reasons.
Voters' top five issues are COVID-19 (24%), the economy (24%), education (13%), law and order (12%) and health care (10%).
COVID-19 impact and response:
Just 46% of voters say they will take a COVID-19 vaccine if it becomes available, compared to 37% who will not and 16% who are not sure. A slim majority (54%) of Democrats said they would take the vaccine, compared to 44% of Republicans and 36% of independents.
Thirty-six percent of all voters say their household has lost income or a job due to COVID-19, a number which rises to 56% among independents.
Fifty-eight percent of voters say they wear a mask “all the time” when they go out in public. That percentage is higher among Democrats (75%) than independents (55%) or Republicans (48%). While some anti-mask sentiment has been documented in the media and largely made out as a right-wing phenomenon, it is not clear that Republicans are anti-mask. Sixty-five percent of Republicans say they wear a mask in public either “all the time” or “most of the time.” That percentage increases to 78% when the category “some of the time” is included. Just 10% of Republicans say they rarely wear a mask and just 5% say they never do.
Seventy-seven percent of voters say that masks are effective in slowing down the spread of the coronavirus. A huge majority of Democrats (89%) say masks are effective, but smaller majorities of independents (68%) and Republicans (63%) say they agree.
Forty-eight percent of voters say public schools should reopen immediately, compared to 37% who disagree. Support for reopening rises to 63% among Republicans and falls to just 29% among Democrats.
Similar to the sentiment on public schools, 61% of Republicans favor resuming college football. Just 34% of Democrats support playing football games.
Law Enforcement / Race
Oklahomans do not favor defunding the police or even reducing funding for law enforcement. Just 22% of voters say they support reducing funding for police and shifting that funding elsewhere. A strong majority of Republicans (81%) and a slim majority of Democrats (52%) say they oppose funding reductions for law enforcement.
However, a plurality of voters (48%) agree there is racial bias in law enforcement, compared to 36% who disagree. This breaks strongly on party lines. Thirty-three percent of Republicans believe there is racial bias compared to 72% of Democrats who do.
Forty percent of voters believe athletes should be allowed to kneel during the national anthem to protest compared to 51% who say they should not. Support for kneeling is strongest among Democrats (51%) and young voters under 30 (50%).
