What the Hill?
The recent controversy surrounding Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill may not have had much impact on what Hoosiers think of the job he is doing.
As part of our Indy Politics scientific poll of 600 likely voters, conducted last week by Mason Strategies LLC, we asked about Hill’s favorable and unfavorable ratings.
Hill was accused by several women of groping them in a bar earlier this year, A special prosecutor declined to file charges saying there was not enough evidence to prove criminal conduct. Attorneys for the women say they are looking at filing a civil suit. Thirty-one percent of the respondents to our survey gave Hill a favorable rating, 22 percent expressed their disapproval and 47-percent said they did not know about the incident, or they did not care.
“The high number of unsure voters means either that the news about Hill has not had a significant impact in the minds of voters, or that they are waiting-and-seeing what comes of the investigation into the claims against him,” said Mason Strategies pollster Stephen Spiker. “This survey was conducted entirely before yesterday’s announcement.”
Hill’s approval rating is higher among Republicans (38%-11%) than Democrats (22%-34%), and among men (34%-27%) compared to women (28%-17%), but in all cases, more than 40% of these subgroups remain unsure about his job performance.
“The high number of unsure voters means either that the news about Hill has not had a significant impact in the minds of voters, or that they are waiting-and-seeing what comes of the investigation into the claims against him,” Spiker noted.
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The survey also included the following results…
- Governor Eric Holcomb’s approval ratings were at 61-percent.
- President Donald Trump’s approval and job performance ratings hovered near 52 percent.
- Vice-President Mike Pence was at 55 percent.
- On whether the country was on the right track, only 46 percent said yes, but when asked whether the state of Indiana was on the right track, 56 percent said yes.
- In the Secretary of State’s race, Republican incumbent Connie Lawson polled in at 45 percent, Democrat Jim Harper had 37 percent and Libertarian Mark Rutherford had 4 percent.
- The poll also asked Hoosiers if they supported the creation of some kind of hate crimes law as well as an increase in the state cigarette tax as long as the proceeds are dedicated to treating the public health costs assorted with smoking. Sixty-two percent supported an increase in the cigarette tax, while 60 percent supported a hate crimes statute.
The poll’s margin of error was 3.9 percent.
You can view the polling memo here.
Tomorrow we will unveil poll results for Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett.
(Media are free to cite these numbers, however, credit must be given to IndyPolitics.Org and Mason Strategies LLC)
