Posted on 09/23/2002 10:37:11 AM PDT by CedarDave
Monday, September 23, 2002
Big Issues Endorsed by Voters
By S.U. Mahesh and David Miles
Copyright © 2002 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Capitol Bureau
SANTA FE — On three highly personal, long-simmering issues, majorities of New Mexico voters support the death penalty, abortion choice and a law allowing people to carry concealed firearms, a Journal poll found.
The death penalty had the strongest level of support of the three issues — 63 percent.
Abortion choice and concealed carry — as long as the firearm carrier completes a required training program — each had 57 percent support, the statewide survey of registered voters found.
Less than a third of the voters — 29 percent — said they opposed the death penalty in New Mexico, and 8 percent said they were undecided.
Slightly more than a third — 36 percent — said abortion should be against the law in all or most cases and 7 percent were undecided or wouldn't cite an opinion.
Thirty-nine percent said they opposed allowing citizens to carry concealed guns, even with training, and 4 percent were undecided or said it would depend on the specifics of the proposal.
Gov. Gary Johnson last year signed concealed-carry legislation into law, but the state Supreme Court struck it down. The court found the law unconstitutional because it allowed municipalities to impose local bans on carrying concealed guns.
New Mexico law has long allowed citizens to carry firearms as long as they are exposed, except in certain locales, such as bars.
Support for allowing residents to carry concealed guns was highest among Republicans, Anglos, and in less populous areas outside the Albuquerque metropolitan area.
About three-quarters of the voters polled in the southern part of the state supported concealed carry, along with 64 percent of the east-side residents and 63 percent of the northwest residents.
Support in the Albuquerque metropolitan area for concealed carry was 51 percent. Support dipped to 44 percent in the north-central area, which includes Santa Fe.
"Party affiliation, ethnicity and region of the state are major predictors on this issue," said Brian Sanderoff, president of Research and Polling Inc., which conducted the poll.
Seventy-seven percent of Republicans polled said they supported concealed carry, compared with 45 percent of the Democrats.
Among Hispanic voters polled, 51 percent said they opposed concealed carry. In contrast, 60 percent of Anglo respondents said they supported concealed carry.
The question asked on guns was: "Do you support or oppose allowing citizens who complete a required training program to carry concealed guns?"
In August 2001, Research and Polling conducted a poll asking Albuquerque voters if they supported or opposed allowing Albuquerque residents to carry concealed handguns. That poll didn't mention completing required firearms training.
Fifty-eight percent of people polled in the 2001 Albuquerque survey said they opposed concealed carry, while 34 percent said they supported the proposal.
"If you don't mention the training aspect, it's 34-58. If you put (in) the training component, the numbers reverse," Sanderoff said, referring to the increase in support for concealed carry with required firearms training.
On the death penalty question, "Men, Anglos, high-income Republicans and east-side residents are most supportive of the death penalty," Sanderoff said.
For example, 69 percent of the male respondents said they supported the death penalty, compared with 58 percent of the women. In the ethnicity comparison, 68 percent of the Anglo voters said they supported the death penalty, compared with 52 percent of the Hispanic voters.
New Mexico conducted its first execution in 41 years last November when child-killer Terry Clark was executed at the penitentiary in Santa Fe.
On the abortion issue, voters were asked: "Thinking about the abortion issue, many people believe that abortion should be against the law in most or all cases. Many other people believe a woman should be able to choose whether or not to have an abortion. Which position is closer to your point of view?"
Ethnicity appeared to be a major factor in the abortion question.
Hispanic voters were more likely than Anglos — 48 percent to 31 percent — to say abortion should be against the law in all or most cases.
Sanderoff noted that many New Mexico Hispanics, who make up about 42 percent of the state population, are Roman Catholic.
Republicans were also more likely than Democrats to say abortion should be against the law in all or most cases.
In a 1996 Journal poll on abortion, 63 percent of New Mexico voters said women should be able to choose, while 31 percent said they believe abortion should be outlawed and 6 percent said they were undecided.
In the latest Journal poll, the scientific sample of 400 registered voters statewide has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. Interviews were conducted by telephone Sept. 8-13, excluding Sept. 11.
Copyright 2002 Albuquerque Journal
Don't worry FloriDuh has stolen that label from us.
All depends on the wording of the question. Most people believe abortion should be legal in some circumstances, but illegal in others. If the Republicans would learn to recognize this they'd make huge gains both for themselves and for the issue.
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