UM Big Sky Poll Provides Election Preview and Knowledge of ERA
The recently released spring Big Sky Poll from the University of Montana provided some insight into what may occur in the upcoming primary and general election, as well as the public’s knowledge of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Associate Professor and Masters of Public Administration Director Sarah Rinfret provided details about the latest polling results taken from over 400 registered voters in Montana.
“We did head-to head match-ups with presidential contenders,” said Rinfret. “President Trump is trending out ahead in Montana. Since our primary is still a few months away we put the candidates together. Right now, Kathy Williams and Matt Rosendale are trending at the top for the U.S. House race. In terms of the Senate race, there are rumblings that Montana Governor Steve Bullock might throw his hat in the race, but that being said, incumbent Senator Steve Daines is still trending out ahead. In the governor’s race, the two names that are doing well with name recognition are current Attorney General Tim Fox and current Congressman Greg Gianforte. On the Democratic side, you have Whitney Williams and Mike Cooney who have lots of name recognition.”
Rinfret also referred to the Montana trivia question about the Equal Rights Amendment.
“We asked our Montana trivia question which asked ‘to this date, 38 states have voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment,” she said. “To the best of your knowledge, is Montana one of those 38 states?’ The answer is yes, but only 30 percent knew that answer.”
Rinfret said the poll also asked about the support for legalizing recreational marijuana in Montana.
“We have about 53 percent of Montanans who said they would be in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana, while 37 percent said no, while about nine percent said they just didn’t know. Democrats are more favorable than Republicans for the legalization of recreation marijuana.”
In addition, 33 percent of Montanans said that President Trump is doing an excellent job, while 37 percent said he was doing a poor job.