SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) – Morningside College’s Bud Day Center for Civic Engagement has released results from their 2nd annual poll.
Researchers gathered public opinions on a variety of policy issues. They also gathered feedback on the performance of Iowa’s legislative and executive branches of government.
Morningside said the poll was done from April 22 through May 2, 2019. There were 774 participants in the final sampling, all of which were Iowa adults. Participants were selected from random digit dialing by the polling firm Dynata. More than 70,000 dials were attempts, and computer-assisted interviews took place over landline and cell telephones. The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. You can click here for the entire methodology.
“The Day Center’s mission includes nonpartisan efforts to encourage civic engagement and interest in the political process,” said Valerie Hennings, associate professor of political science at Morningside College and director of the Col. Bud Day Center for Civic Engagement. “Results from the Morningside Poll are a valuable information resource for anyone interested in Iowa politics and policies, including students, educators, researchers and community leaders.”
When asked what was the most important problem facing the state of Iowa, 15 percent said healthcare, 11 percent said education, and 9 percent said the government and elected officials, with 13 percent refusing to answer or saying they didn’t know.
More than half the respondents approved of Governor Kim Reynolds performance as the Governor of Iowa with 55 percent approving. 83 percent or Republicans and 26 percent of Democrats approved. Similar to Gov. Reynolds, a majority (51 percent) also approved of the Iowa State Legislature.
Regarding the minimum wage, 69 percent believed it should be increased, 24 percent think it should be kept the same, and 2 percent want it decreased. Among Democrats, 92 percent think it should be increased while 51 percent of Republicans agree.
Participants were also asked how satisfied they were with state officeholders’ response to the recent flooding in Iowa. With 14 percent not answering, 40 percent were completely or mostly satisfied, 31 percent had mixed feelings, and 15 percent were completely or mostly dissatisfied.
When asked what they thought about developing a plan that allows those living in the U.S. illegally the chance to become citizens if they meet certain requirements over time, 74 percent were in favor.
When asked to increase funding for the expanded the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, 50 percent opposed and 46 percent were in favor. Meanwhile, 80 percent and 79 percent were in favor of increasing funding to expand the use of border security technologies or to hire more border control agents respectively.
There are many more topics that were polled, including school funding, sports betting, stun guns on college campuses, and marijuana. You can view the full results here.
