February 14, 2012 - Ohio Voters Support 'Right-To-Work' Law, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Ban Smoking In Car With Kids, Voters Say Word format Despite the overwhelming victory by organized labor and its allies in repealing SB 5 in this past election, by 54 - 40 percent Ohio voters favor the idea of passing a "right-to-work" law that would ban workers from being required to join a union as a condition of employment, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Voters also support 55 - 41 percent a ban on smoking in cars if a child under age six is in the vehicle. Gov. John Kasich's job approval numbers remain poor, although they are getting better, as 40 percent of registered voters approve of how he is doing his job compared to 46 percent who disapprove of how he is running the Buckeye State. Those numbers are little changed from the negative 39 - 48 percent job approval rating in a January 19 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University, but are better than the negative 36 - 52 percent approval rating in an October 25, 2011, poll. "Given the assumption that the SB 5 referendum was a demonstration of union strength in Ohio, the 54 - 40 percent support for making Ohio a 'right-to-work' state does make one take notice," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "In the SB 5 referendum independent voters, who are generally the key to Ohio elections, voted with the pro-union folks to repeal the law many viewed as an effort to handicap unions. The data indicates that many of those same independents who stood up for unions this past November on SB 5 are standing up to unions by backing 'right-to-work' legislation." Support for "right-to-work" is 77 - 20 percent among Republicans and 55 - 39 percent among independent voters. Democrats are opposed 61- 31 percent. A majority of men and women, those with and without college degrees and all age groups like the idea of Ohio becoming a "right-to-work" state. Support rises with income, from 48 - 44 percent among those making less than $30,000 per year to 59 - 39 percent among those making more than $100,000 per year. Voters in union households oppose such a law 65 - 32 percent. Banning smoking in a car carrying a young child inspires more disagreement among various groups. Republicans narrowly oppose it 50 - 47 percent, while support is 61 - 34 percent among Democrats and 55 - 42 percent among independent votes. Women support the ban 58 - 38 percent, while men back it 51 - 45 percent. "More women want to keep smoke away from children, but differences among other groups are not large," said Brown. On other legislative matters, voters say 49 - 40 percent the idea of banning public schools from opening before Labor Day and continuing past Memorial Day is a bad idea. Ohio voters want more speed as 53 percent support a 70 mile-per-hour speed limit for all interstate highways in the state, while 13 percent want an even higher limit and 31 percent want a lower limit. While Republicans give Gov. Kasich a 71 - 19 percent approval rating, disapproval is a mirror image 70 - 17 percent among Democrats and 49 - 35 percent among independent voters. Men split 46 - 45 percent while women disapprove 47 - 35 percent. "When a governor's approval rating in his own party can't overcome the disapproval by the opposition party and he is getting bad reviews from independent voters, it is a sign of political weakness," said Brown. "The governor still has almost three years until he faces the voters, but he would certainly like to get his job approval into the mid-40s, at least. The good news for him is that he is slightly more popular than the legislature, which gets 48 - 35 percent disapproval." U.S. Sen. Rob Portman gets a 42 - 25 percent job approval. From February 7 - 12, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,421 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia and the nation as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 16. Do you approve or disapprove of the way John Kasich is handling his job as Governor? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Approve 40% 71% 17% 35% 46% 35% 44% 11% Disapprove 46 19 70 49 45 47 43 67 DK/NA 14 10 13 16 9 18 12 22 COLLEGE DEG AGE IN YEARS..... ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME Yes No 18-49 50-64 65+ <30K 30-50 50-100 >100 Approve 41% 39% 38% 40% 46% 35% 43% 38% 49% Disapprove 51 44 45 50 42 46 40 53 46 DK/NA 7 17 17 10 13 19 17 9 4 Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt Approve 41% 40% 40% 37% 36% 44% Disapprove 47 48 42 38 47 44 DK/NA 13 12 17 25 16 12 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way John Kasich is handling his job as Governor? (*High also 40% Sep 2011, **Low also 30% Jan 2011) APPROVE....... High Low Feb 14 Jan 19 Dec 08 Nov 10 Oct 25 Feb 14 Mar 23 2012 2012 2011 2011 2011 2012* 2011** Approve 40 39 38 36 36 40 30 Disapprove 46 48 50 51 52 46 46 DK/NA 14 13 12 13 12 14 23 17. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Approve 35% 54% 19% 30% 39% 31% 37% 16% Disapprove 48 29 64 52 48 47 44 66 DK/NA 18 17 16 18 13 22 18 17 COLLEGE DEG AGE IN YEARS..... ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME Yes No 18-49 50-64 65+ <30K 30-50 50-100 >100 Approve 34% 35% 38% 33% 32% 32% 32% 40% 39% Disapprove 52 46 45 54 43 47 48 48 49 DK/NA 14 20 17 13 25 21 20 11 12 Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt Approve 36% 34% 38% 31% 33% 35% Disapprove 43 50 49 40 47 49 DK/NA 21 16 12 28 20 17 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job? APPROVE....... High Low Feb 14 Jan 19 Jun 29 Apr 29 Mar 31 Dec 10 Dec 12 2012 2012 2010 2010 2010 2008 2006 Approve 35 32 33 35 34 46 25 Disapprove 48 49 47 47 46 35 55 DK/NA 18 19 20 19 20 19 20 18. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Rob Portman is handling his job as United States Senator? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Approve 42% 64% 26% 38% 44% 39% 43% 27% Disapprove 25 11 37 24 27 23 23 34 DK/NA 34 25 38 38 29 38 34 39 COLLEGE DEG AGE IN YEARS..... ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME Yes No 18-49 50-64 65+ <30K 30-50 50-100 >100 Approve 47% 39% 42% 41% 42% 31% 44% 50% 48% Disapprove 25 25 24 27 22 32 20 24 27 DK/NA 28 36 34 32 36 37 36 27 25 Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt Approve 39% 39% 38% 45% 54% 40% Disapprove 26 26 29 11 28 19 DK/NA 35 35 33 43 19 41 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Rob Portman is handling his job as United States Senator? APPROVE...... High Low Feb 14 Jan 19 Oct 25 Sep 27 Jul 21 Feb 14 Mar 24 2012 2012 2011 2011 2011 2012 2011 Approve 42 39 38 41 40 42 30 Disapprove 25 25 26 23 21 25 25 DK/NA 34 36 36 35 39 34 45 21. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in Ohio today; are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Very satisfied 3% 5% 2% 2% 4% 2% 3% 3% Smwht satisfied 40 46 38 37 41 39 41 33 Smwht dissatisfied 36 31 41 38 37 36 36 40 Very dissatisfied 20 17 19 23 18 22 20 22 DK/NA 1 - - - - 1 - 1 COLLEGE DEG AGE IN YEARS..... ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME Yes No 18-49 50-64 65+ <30K 30-50 50-100 >100 Very satisfied 2% 3% 2% 2% 5% 4% 3% 2% 1% Smwht satisfied 42 39 42 35 46 38 39 43 43 Smwht dissatisfied 39 35 36 39 32 36 38 39 37 Very dissatisfied 17 22 19 24 16 21 20 17 19 DK/NA - 1 - - 2 1 1 - - Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt Very satisfied 4% 2% 4% 4% 2% 2% Smwht satisfied 44 38 44 34 39 39 Smwht dissatisfied 34 38 34 39 37 37 Very dissatisfied 18 21 18 22 21 20 DK/NA - 1 - - 1 1 TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in Ohio today; are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? (*Low also 29% Mar 2011) VERY+SMWHT SAT High Low Feb 14 Jan 19 Oct 25 Sep 27 Jul 20 Mar 21 Oct 25 2012 2012 2011 2011 2011 2007 2011* Very satisfied 3 4 3 3 3 5 3 Smwht satisfied 40 37 26 31 31 49 26 Smwht dissatisfied 36 36 34 32 32 28 34 Very dissatisfied 20 22 37 32 32 16 37 DK/NA 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 38. The Ohio legislature is considering a bill that would ban smoking by people in cars if there are children less than age six riding in the vehicle. Do you think banning smoking in cars where there are children under age six is a good idea or a bad idea? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Good idea 55% 47% 61% 55% 51% 58% 53% 65% Bad idea 41 50 34 42 45 38 44 28 DK/NA 4 4 5 3 5 4 4 7 COLLEGE DEG AGE IN YEARS..... ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME Yes No 18-49 50-64 65+ <30K 30-50 50-100 >100 Good idea 56% 54% 59% 47% 59% 56% 55% 55% 56% Bad idea 42 41 36 50 38 41 38 43 43 DK/NA 2 5 5 4 3 4 8 2 1 HvKids Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt <18 Smoker Good idea 49% 58% 55% 53% 55% 55% 55% 45% Bad idea 46 38 45 45 40 40 39 48 DK/NA 5 4 - 2 5 5 6 7 38a. Do you currently smoke cigarettes? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Yes 21% 11% 30% 21% 22% 20% 20% 29% No 79 89 70 79 78 80 80 71 DK/NA - - - - - - - - COLLEGE DEG AGE IN YEARS..... ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME Yes No 18-49 50-64 65+ <30K 30-50 50-100 >100 Yes 7% 27% 26% 21% 13% 34% 27% 12% 13% No 93 73 74 79 87 66 73 88 87 DK/NA - - - - - - - - - HAVE KIDS.... Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt <18 PubSch Yes 18% 21% 19% 30% 22% 23% 26% 28% No 82 79 81 70 78 77 74 72 DK/NA - - - - - - - - 39. Public school schedules vary somewhat around Ohio. Lawmakers are considering legislation that would ban public schools from opening the academic year before Labor Day or continuing past Memorial Day. Do you think such a law would be a good thing or a bad thing? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Good thing 40% 39% 44% 38% 39% 41% 39% 50% Bad thing 49 50 47 51 50 48 49 45 DK/NA 11 11 9 11 11 11 12 6 COLLEGE DEG AGE IN YEARS..... ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME Yes No 18-49 50-64 65+ <30K 30-50 50-100 >100 Good thing 30% 45% 37% 41% 45% 42% 48% 41% 31% Bad thing 61 44 54 49 41 47 42 51 59 DK/NA 9 12 9 10 14 10 10 8 9 HAVE KIDS.... Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt <18 PubSch Good thing 37% 41% 36% 44% 39% 43% 37% 35% Bad thing 46 51 55 43 50 48 56 57 DK/NA 17 8 9 13 11 9 7 8 40. Indiana recently became a "right to work" state, meaning that workers can no longer be required to join a union or pay dues or fees to a union as a condition of employment. Do you think that Ohio should become a "right to work" state or don't you think so? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Yes/Should 54% 77% 31% 55% 55% 52% 55% 42% No/Should not 40 20 61 39 42 38 39 46 DK/NA 6 3 8 6 3 9 6 12 COLLEGE DEG AGE IN YEARS..... ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME Yes No 18-49 50-64 65+ <30K 30-50 50-100 >100 Yes/Should 59% 51% 56% 52% 51% 48% 53% 57% 59% No/Should not 36 42 38 42 42 44 39 40 39 DK/NA 5 7 6 6 7 8 7 3 2 Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt UnionHsHlds Yes/Should 51% 52% 58% 52% 58% 57% 32% No/Should not 39 42 40 43 38 37 65 DK/NA 10 6 3 4 4 7 3 41. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would set the speed limit on Ohio's interstate highways at 70 miles per hour. Do you think there should be a 70 miles per hour speed limit on Ohio's interstate highways, a higher speed limit, or a lower speed limit? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk 70 mph limit 53% 57% 47% 52% 56% 50% 55% 39% Higher limit 13 13 12 15 21 6 12 14 Lower limit 31 27 38 30 19 42 29 47 DK/NA 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 - COLLEGE DEG AGE IN YEARS..... ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD INCOME Yes No 18-49 50-64 65+ <30K 30-50 50-100 >100 70 mph limit 60% 49% 55% 53% 48% 48% 47% 59% 59% Higher limit 9 15 19 10 7 10 15 14 19 Lower limit 28 33 24 35 40 40 35 24 20 DK/NA 3 3 2 2 5 2 3 4 2 HAVE KIDS.... Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt <18 PubSch 70 mph limit 51% 49% 62% 63% 51% 58% 59% 59% Higher limit 11 14 6 9 15 16 15 17 Lower limit 34 34 27 26 29 25 22 21 DK/NA 4 2 4 2 5 1 4 4 Demographic Summary
