THE DES MOINES REGISTER/MEDIACOM IOWA POLL

SELZER & COMPANY Study #2168

801 Iowa adults January 28-31, 2018
Margin of error: ± 3.5 percentage points Weighted by age and sex

Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.

Are you a resident of the state of Iowa?

100 Yes Continue
- No
Terminate and do not count toward any quota
- Not sure

In general, do you think things in the nation are headed in the right direction, or have they gotten off on the wrong track?

Right Wrong Not

direction track sure

Jan-18 40 49 12

What about here in Iowa? Do you think things in the state are headed in the right direction, or have they gotten off on the
wrong track?
Right Wrong Not
direction track sure

Jan-18 49 39 13

I’m going to mention some elected officials. For each, please tell me if you approve or disapprove of the way each is
handling his or her job. (Rotate list.)
Not
Approve Disapprove Sure

Kim Reynolds as governor Jan-18 47 33 20

Donald Trump as president of the
Jan-18 44 51 5
United States

In the 2020 election, do you anticipate you will definitely vote for President Trump, consider voting for another
candidate, or definitely vote for another candidate? (Based on likely voters in the 2020 general election; n=656.
MoE = ± 3.8 percentage points.)
2020
LV

26 Definitely Trump
20 Consider voting for another candidate
48 Definitely vote for another candidate
- Will not vote (VOL)
5 Not sure

Do you think the special counsel is or is not doing the right thing in investigating a possible connection between
Russia and the Trump campaign in the 2016 election?

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 54 Is doing the right thing
33 Is not doing the right thing
13 Not sure

I'm going to mention the names of some people and institutions in the news. (Feb-17 and Dec-17: I'm going to mention the
names of some people who are possible candidates for governor.) For each name I read, please tell me if your feelings toward
the person or institution are very favorable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable, or very unfavorable. If you don’t
know the person, just say so. (Record “don’t know” as “not sure.” Rotate list.)
Net Net Very Mostly Mostly Very Not
Favorable Unfavorable Favorable Favorable Unfavorable Unfavorable Sure

Kim Reynolds, governor Jan-18 48 32 14 34 17 15 20

Ron Corbett, Republican
candidate for governor Jan-18 15 18 2 12 9 9 68
Donald Trump, president Jan-18 45 53 22 22 13 40 2

(Ask all.) Turning to the general election for governor in 2018, if the election were held today and the candidates were
[KIM REYNOLDS for the Republicans] and [NAME FROM LIST for the Democrats], for whom would you vote—[KIM
REYNOLDS/NAME ON LIST] or for someone else? (Rotate list. Also rotate order of asking Reynolds versus other
candidates every other interview. Based on likely voters in the 2018 general election; n=555. MoE = ± 4.2
percentage points.)
Other/would Not
2018 likely voters only Reynolds Democrat not vote (VOL) Sure

Nate Boulton, state senator 41 37 11 11

Cathy Glasson, union leader 44 31 14 12
Fred Hubbell, retired business executive 42 37 12 10
John Norris, former federal appointee 41 30 14 15
Andy McGuire, physician 42 30 15 13

Here are some specific issues that may be debated in the Iowa Legislature this year. For each, please tell me if you
favor or oppose the initiative. (Rotate list.)
Not
Favor Oppose Sure

Define life as beginning at conception Jan-18 55 34 11

Restore funds to Planned Parenthood for non-abortion-related health
Jan-18 71 25 4
care services
Dramatically reduce the number of tax credits awarded to Iowa
Jan-18 44 41 15
businesses

When it comes to tax incentives the state provides companies to induce them to locate or expand in Iowa, do you
think this economic development approach has been mostly a success or mostly a failure?
48 Mostly a success
35 Mostly a failure
17 Not sure
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Turning to the federal government, do you think a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented workers in this country
now is or is not a worthy goal?
Is a worthy Is not a Not
goal worthy goal sure

Jan-18 65 26 9

Which one of the following four approaches would you most like to see taken with the state’s bottle deposit law,
which currently requires a 5-cent deposit on beer, wine, liquor, and soda containers? (Rotate list.)
Expand the law to Move it out of grocery stores Eliminate the deposit None of
Keep the law include juice and and into community and replace it with these Not
the way it is water bottles redemption centers recycling programs (VOL) Sure

30 27 16 22 1 4

What about just the children of undocumented parents who were brought into the country illegally by no fault of their
own—for this group of so-called DACA recipients, do you think a pathway to citizenship is or is not a worthy goal?
Is a worthy Is not a Not
goal worthy goal sure

Jan-18 81 13 6

Which of the following best describes your view of funding for a wall along the Mexican border:
30 It should be funded no matter what else is happening with immigration policy
15 It should be funded only with an agreement to give children of undocumented immigrants permanent
residence in the U.S. or with a broader deal offering legal status to most undocumented immigrants
50 It should not be funded under any circumstances
5 Not sure

I'm going to mention some general areas of Iowa life that are supported by state government. For each, please tell me
if you believe the situation to be a crisis, a big problem, a little problem, or if you think things are working just fine.
(Rotate list.).
Big Little Working Not
Crisis Problem Problem Just Fine Sure

Mental health services 35 38 13 9 5

Water quality 12 26 27 29 5
K through 12 public education 15 32 29 20 4
State university tuition 13 42 25 12 8
Funding for the Iowa court system 8 19 28 27 19
Child welfare services 20 38 23 12 7
The state budget 14 37 24 14 11
The availability of a skilled workforce 9 31 32 20 7
Student loan debt for Iowa college graduates 20 40 21 11 7

Iowans pay taxes to state and local governments in three main ways: state income tax, sales tax, and property tax. Of
these three, which do you consider the fairest to taxpayers?

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 State income Sales Property None of these Not
taxes tax tax (VOL) Sure

Jan-18 28 45 15 3 9

And, which do you consider the least fair to taxpayers?

State income Sales Property None of these Not
taxes tax tax (VOL) Sure

Jan-18 29 13 48 1 8

The state expects an influx of new revenue as a result of the tax bill recently passed by Congress. What do you think
is the better use of new money: (Read options; rotate every other interview.)
44 Return it to taxpayers in the form of tax cuts
50 Use it to restore funding cut from state programs
6 Not sure

Do you favor or oppose raising the state sales tax by 1 cent to pay for a combination of [water quality projects] and
[mental health services]?
67 Favor
29 Oppose
4 Not sure

ABOUT THE POLL

The Iowa Poll, conducted January 28-31 for The Des Moines Register and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is
based on telephone interviews with 801 Iowans ages 18 or older, including 555 likely voters in the 2018 general election
for governor and other offices and 656 likely voters in the 2020 general election for president and other offices.
Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted households with randomly selected landline and cell phone numbers
supplied by Survey Sampling International. Interviews were administered in English. Responses were adjusted by age and
sex to reflect the general population based on recent census data.

Questions based on the sample of 801 Iowa adults have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage
points. This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of
20, the findings would not vary from the true population value by more than plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Results
based on smaller samples of respondents—such as by gender or age—have a larger margin of error. Questions based on
likely voters in the 2018 general election have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points, and
questions based on likely voters in the 2020 general election have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.8
percentage points.

Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit to The Des Moines Register and Mediacom is prohibited.

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