New Poll of TN Republican Primary Voters Shows Support for ESAs

NASHVILLE, TN — A Cygnal statewide survey of 630 likely Republican primary voters in Tennessee shows that support for educational choice is strong, and that Republican voters are more likely to support state legislature candidates that support Education Savings Accounts.
Statement from Shaka Mitchell, American Federation for Children Tennessee state director:
“These results reinforce the fact that school choice is not only good policy, it’s good politics. Republicans seeking office should take note that their constituents strongly support providing greater educational options to Tennessee families and want their candidates to as well.”
A majority of Tennessee Republicans believe that the state is headed in the right direction, but can’t say the same for the Tennessee public education system.
71% of respondents indicated that Tennessee is headed in the right direction, and only 17% believe that the state is off on the wrong track. Alternatively, only 33% of Republican voters believe that the public education system in Tennessee is headed in the right direction, while 51% say it’s off on the wrong track.
78% of respondents support the concept of school choice.
Intensity is high out of those who support school choice, with 52% saying they “strongly support” school choice.
The majority of respondents believe that you can support BOTH public education and expanded school choice options.
61% agreed that it was possible to support both public education and expanded school choice options. Only 18% disagreed.
President Trump and Governor Lee support for ESAs provides big bonus
When asked if they would be more or less likely to support candidates for the Tennessee General Assembly who supported ESAs, 40% responded “more likely.” When respondents were told that Governor Lee supports ESAs, the “more likely” percentage rose to 53%, with only 18% responding “less likely.” When respondents were told that President Trump supports ESAs, 58% said they would be “more likely” (and 29% “much more likely”) to vote for a candidate supportive of ESAs.
METHODOLOGY: ​This probabilistic survey was conducted November 30 – December 1, 2019, with 630 registered voters. It has a margin of error of ±3.90%. Known registered voters were interviewed via live professional agents to phones, an online sample acquired via email, and SMS invitations sent to known registered voters. This survey was weighted to a GOP Primary universe.
View the poll results here.