Americans Overwhelmingly Engaged in 2016 Election but Tone of Race Is Affecting Voters...

Americans Overwhelmingly Engaged in 2016 Election but Tone of Race Is Affecting Voters, New GW Battleground Poll Shows

pril 25, 2016
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jason Shevrin: jshevrin@gwu.edu, 202-994-5631
John Brandt: johnbrandt@gwu.edu, 202-994-3199

WASHINGTON (April 25, 2016)—The 2016 presidential election is on the top of most Americans’ minds, according to the latest George Washington University Battleground Poll. Despite, or perhaps because of, the high level of engagement, voters have negative views of almost all major candidates, and report the tone of the race is wearing on them.

The bipartisan GW Battleground Poll, conducted in partnership with The Tarrance Group and Lake Research Partners, asked likely voters how closely they’ve followed the presidential campaign over the last year. Eighty-nine percent reported they’ve followed the race either “very” or “somewhat” closely. More than half (52 percent) of respondents reported receiving updates on the campaigns via social media.

The GW poll found that of the five candidates still in the race for the highest office, only two—Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Ohio governor John Kasich—have an unfavorable rating below 50 percent, at 44 and 29, respectively. The other three—former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (56 percent), Texas Senator Ted Cruz (55 percent) and businessman Donald Trump (65 percent)—are all mostly disliked.

All the candidates with unfavorable ratings above 50 percent also have a majority of voters saying that they would not consider voting for them for president. When asked about increasingly visible former President Bill Clinton, respondents showed more positive views toward the non-candidate, with 54 percent favorable and 41 percent unfavorable toward him.

In a head-to-head matchup of each party’s frontrunner, Mrs. Clinton leads Mr. Trump by only 3 percentage points nationally (46 to 43; 11 percent undecided). Comparatively, Mr. Sanders fares slightly better against Mr. Trump (51/40/10).

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https://mediarelations.gwu.edu/americans-overwhelmingly-engaged-2016-election-tone-race-affecting-voters-new-gw-battleground-poll