Despite the fact that the four major candidates in the race to be Louisiana’s next governor are actively campaigning and have appeared at panel forums together across the state in recent months, few voters are paying close attention to the race so far.
That’s according to survey results released today by LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab, which show just 25% of voters in the state are “closely following news about the election.” Just 22% say they have given the race a lot of thought.
The poll, which is sponsored by the Manship School of Mass Communication’s Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs, also shows neither the Republican or Democratic parties have an edge in voter engagement. While the PPRL results show Republicans are paying more attention to news about the campaign than Democrats—at 29%, compared to 22%—more Democrats say they have given the contest a lot of thought; 30%, compared to 13%.
Voters’ lack of attention to the campaign is reflected in how well they know—or don’t know—the major candidates. The survey shows a majority of voters claim not to have enough familiarity with three of the four leading candidates—Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle, Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne and state Rep. John Bel Edwards—to offer an opinion on them. U.S. Sen. David Vitter has the most name recognition of the four major candidates, but 28% of voters say they remain unfamiliar with him as well.
“We will likely see these numbers change as we get closer to Election Day and voters start paying more attention to the campaign,” says PPRL research director Michael Henderson in a prepared statement. “In the meantime, this is a caution against over-interpreting early polls about who voters might choose to support. Opinions and vote intentions could shift quite a bit as voters start tuning in.”
PPRL conducted the survey by phone between March 10 and 31. A total of 1,045 adult residents ages 18 or older participated. The poll has a margin of error of plus/minus 4.3 percentage points.
—Steve Sanoski
