The state of Washington has taken part in all 33 U.S. presidential elections since 1892, voting for the nationwide winner in 23 elections, giving a success rate of seventy percent. Washington voted for the Republican Party's nominee in 14 elections, and the Democratic nominee in 18; while Washington did not have a strong party affiliation throughout most of its history, it has grown to be a solid blue state in the past few decades, voting for the Democratic nominee in all elections since 1988. The only election where Washington did not vote for a major party nominee was in the 1912 election, where it voted for former-President Theodore Roosevelt, who ran as a third-party candidate for the Progressive Party. In the 2020 election, Washington proved to be a comfortable victory for the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, who won by an almost twenty percent margin in the popular vote.

Electoral votes Washington's influence has steadily grown throughout U.S. election history, with its allocation of electoral votes gradually increasing from four votes in at the turn of the twentieth century, to twelve votes since 2012. This is largely due to Washington state's high population growth, which has consistently grown at a faster rate than the national average since the 1940s; Seattle, Washington's largest city, has consistently been the fastest growing city in the U.S. in the past decade, due to the booming tech industry and high standard of living. As of the 2020 election, no U.S. president or major party nominee was born in Washington, or resided there when taking office.

The "Hamilton Electors" In the 2016 election, four of Washington's electors made headlines by not voting for Hillary Clinton, who was the statewide winner of the popular vote. Instead, three electors voted for Colin Powell, while one voted for Faith Spotted Eagle; respectively making them the first African-American Republican and Native American to receive electoral votes for president. This was part of the "Hamilton Electors" movement, which began shortly after the popular vote results were announced. Its aim it was to have 35 electors cast faithless ballots, reduce Donald Trump's electoral vote majority below 270, and bring the election before the House of Representatives. Ultimately, only seven electors cast faithless ballots (only two of which were for Trump), and the four faithless electors from Washington were fined one thousand dollars each. Following a series of subsequent legal challenges, in July 2020, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that states may oblige electors to vote for their pledged candidate in future elections, therefore giving all states the power to invalidate faithless ballots in future presidential elections.

This web map displays data from the voter registration database as the percent of registered voters by census tract in King County, Washington. The data for this web map is compiled from King County Elections voter registration data for the years 2013-2019. The total number of registered voters is based on the geo-location of the voter's registered address at the time of the general election for each year. The eligible voting population, age 18 and over, is based on the estimated population increase from the US Census Bureau and the Washington Office of Financial Management and was calculated as a projected 6 percent population increase for the years 2010-2013, 7 percent population increase for the years 2010-2014, 9 percent population increase for the years 2010-2015, 11 percent population increase for the years 2010-2016 & 2017, 14 percent population increase for the years 2010-2018 and 17 percent population increase for the years 2010-2019. The total population 18 and over in 2010 was 1,517,747 in King County, Washington. The percentage of registered voters represents the number of people who are registered to vote as compared to the eligible voting population, age 18 and over. The voter registration data by census tract was grouped into six percentage range estimates: 50% or below, 51-60%, 61-70%, 71-80%, 81-90% and 91% or above with an overall 84 percent registration rate. In the map the lighter colors represent a relatively low percentage range of voter registration and the darker colors represent a relatively high percentage range of voter registration. PDF maps of these data can be viewed at King County Elections downloadable voter registration maps. The 2019 General Election Voter Turnout layer is voter turnout data by historical precinct boundaries for the corresponding year. The data is grouped into six percentage ranges: 0-30%, 31-40%, 41-50% 51-60%, 61-70%, and 71-100%. The lighter colors represent lower turnout and the darker colors represent higher turnout. The King County Demographics Layer is census data for language, income, poverty, race and ethnicity at the census tract level and is based on the 2010-2014 American Community Survey 5 year Average provided by the United States Census Bureau. Since the data is based on a survey, they are considered to be estimates and should be used with that understanding. The demographic data sets were developed and are maintained by King County Staff to support the King County Equity and Social Justice program. Other data for this map is located in the King County GIS Spatial Data Catalog, where data is managed by the King County GIS Center, a multi-department enterprise GIS in King County, Washington. King County has nearly 1.3 million registered voters and is the largest jurisdiction in the United States to conduct all elections by mail. In the map you can view the percent of registered voters by census tract, compare registration within political districts, compare registration and demographic data, verify your voter registration or register to vote through a link to the VoteWA, Washington State Online Voter Registration web page.

The United States has had 46 presidents since George Washington's election in 1789. While Washington himself was not affiliated with any political party, and even argued against partisanship (something that the other Founding Fathers agreed with), political differences and personal rivalries between the Founding Fathers eventually led to the founding of the Federalist Party, led by Alexander Hamilton, and the Democratic-Republican Party, led by Thomas Jefferson. Washington's successor, John Adams, was the only Federalist president, before the Democratic-Republicans occupied the White House from 1801 until 1829.

Formation of the Democratic and Republican parties

The 1820s again saw political and personal rivalries lead to a split among the country's leadership, and the Democratic-Republican Party made way for the formation of the Democratic Party and the National Republican Party. The Democratic Party was formed by Andrew Jackson and his supporters, and was traditionally the more conservative of the major political parties in the U.S. until the mid-twentieth century. The National Republican Party was short lived, and eventually amalgamated with the Whig Party in the 1830s, who would go on to be the main opposition to the Democratic Party for the subsequent two decades. Four U.S. presidents belonged to the Whig Party, although it may be important to note that these four men only served a combined eight years in office, as two of them died a short while into their tenure. The issue of slavery was the most dominant and divisive issue in U.S. politics in the mid-nineteenth century, and regional splits emerged in both parties; the rifts did not break apart the Democratic Party, who favored state sovereignty on the issue, whereas the divide in the Whig Party saw it splinter into the right-wing Know Nothing Party in the south, and anti-slavery Republican Party in the north. The 1856 election was the first to feature candidates of both the Democratic and Republican Parties, marking the beginning of the major political rivalry that has dominated U.S. politics for the past 160 years.

Realignment

Abraham Lincoln became the U.S.' first Republican president with his victory in the 1860 election. From then until 1933, twelve of the U.S.' 16 presidents belonged to the Republican Party, while just four* were from the Democratic Party. Due to the legacy left by the American Civil War, the southern, former-Confederate states were a political stronghold for the Democratic Party, and rarely voted for Republican candidates in presidential elections; in contrast to this, the north, west and newly-admitted states tended to vote Republican. In the 1910s, the Republican Party transitioned into the more ideologically conservative option of the two major parties, and more fiscally conservative following the Great Depression; however, it was not until the Johnson administration in the 1960s, particularly due to matters regarding African-American civil rights, where the core voter bases switched into what is typically expected today. In the past century, there have been ten Republican and nine Democratic presidents (including Joe Biden), with Democrats occupying the White House for roughly 52 of these years. Republican voters in the twenty-first century are generally more conservative and right-leaning in regards to both economic and social issues, whereas Democratic voters tend to be the opposite. There are also strong correlations between political parties and their voters, based on issues such as location, ethnicity, wealth, education and age.

This poll, fielded April 10-13, 2008, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. A random national sample of 1,197 adults were surveyed, including additional interviews with randomly selected African Americans and Catholics, for a total of 213 African American respondents and 292 Catholic respondents. Views were sought on how well George W. Bush was handling the presidency, the war in Iraq, and the economy. Respondents were asked what they thought was the single most important issue in their choice for president, and their opinion of Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton. Respondents were also queried on whether they thought the war in Iraq was worth fighting, whether significant progress was made toward restoring civil order, whether the United States should keep its military forces there until civil order is restored, and whether they thought the United States must win the war in Iraq for the war on terrorism to be a success. Information was collected on how closely respondents were following the 2008 presidential race, which candidate they would like see win the Democratic nomination for president, whether the tone of the Democratic campaign was positive, whether the length of the Democratic race was good for Democrats, and how the super delegates should choose which candidate to nominate based on different counting methods. Several questions asked respondents to compare Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and which candidate they trusted to handle issues such as international trade, the economy, and health care. Respondents were asked which candidate they would vote for if the 2008 presidential election were being held that day and whether a Democratic or Republican president would do a better job handling the situation in Iraq and the economy. Views were sought on Pope Benedict XVI and whether he should maintain the traditional policies of the Roman Catholic Church, whether the Catholic Church is in touch with American Catholics today, policies on women becoming priests, marriage for Catholic priests, and how the Catholic Church has handled the issue of sexual abuse of children by priests. Additional topics included the Reverend Jeremiah Wright controversy, the state of the national economy, respondents' financial situation, gas prices, whether government assistance such as new tax breaks for businesses would avoid or soften a recession, and respondents' plans for a federal rebate. Demographics variables include sex, age, marital status, race, income, voter registration status, political ideology, political party affiliation, political philosophy, education level, religious preference, frequency of religious attendance, and whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christian.

The statistic presents information on the level of trust in the Washington Post in the United States in 2017, sorted by political affiliation. According to the survey, 24 percent of Democrat respondents stated that they somewhat trust the Washington Post as a source of reliable and accurate information on current events.

The Twenty-third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted citizens of the District of Columbia the right to vote in U.S. presidential elections; since this came into effect in 1964, the nation's capital has voted for the Democratic Party's nominee in every election, making this the longest ongoing streak in U.S. presidential elections. The record for the longest ever streak in the history of U.S. presidential elections belongs to Vermont (Republican) and Georgia (Democrat), who each voted for the same party's candidate in 27 consecutive elections between 1852 and 1960. The south and west prove loyal There are nine states, mostly across the West and Midwest, that have voted for the Republican candidate in all U.S. presidential elections since Richard Nixon's first victory in 1968. A number of other Republican streaks began in the south with Ronald Reagan's landslide victory in 1980, after briefly turning Democrat for Georgia's Jimmy Carter in 1976; historically the south had been a Democratic stronghold for more than a century, however the Republican Party's "Southern strategy" in the 1960s established them as the dominant party in the region during the civil rights era. Along with the District of Columbia, the only state not won by Reagan in 1984 was Minnesota, as Walter Mondale carried his home state by a very narrow margin. Minnesota's streak is the second-longest for the Democratic Party, while most of the other ongoing Democratic streaks began in either 1988 or 1992.

Recent swing states In the 2016 election, there were six states (with 99 electoral votes combined) that had been won by Barack Obama in 2012, but turned red in 2016. In the 2020 election, Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, managed to win back three of these states, as well as ending a six election Republican streak in Georgia and a five election streak in Arizona. In contrast, Donald Trump failed to flip any further Democratic strongholds, but repeated his victories in Florida, Iowa and Ohio. Going into this election, pollsters had predicted that the races in both Texas and Florida would be tight, with a combined total of 67 electoral votes, however the incumbent president won the popular votes in these states with margins of roughly six and 3.5 percent respectively.

The Record of American Democracy (ROAD) data provide election returns, socioeconomic summaries, and demographic details about the American public at unusually low levels of geographic aggregation. The NSF-supported ROAD project spans every state in the country from 1984 through 1990 (including some off-year elections). These data enable research on topics such as electoral behavior, the political characteristics of local community context, electoral geography, the role of minority groups in elections and legislative redistricting, split ticket voting and divided government, and elections under federalism. Another set of files has added to these roughly 30-40 political variables an additional 3,725 variables merged from the 1990 United States Census for 47,327 aggregate units called MCD Groups. The MCD Group is a construct for purposes of this data collection. It is based on a merging of the electoral precincts and Census Minor Civil Divisions (MCDs). An MCD is about the size of a city or town. An MCD Group is smaller than or equal to a county and (except in California) is greater than or equal to the size of an MCD. The MCD Group units completely tile the United States landmass. This particular study contains the files for the State Level MCD Group Data for the state of Washington. Documentation and frequently asked questions are available online at the ROAD Website. A downloadable PDF codebook is also available in the files section of this study.

The 1960 US presidential election was the first to take place in all fifty states (although not Washington DC), and the first time where the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution prevented the incumbent president from running for a third term in office. The race was contested between John F. Kennedy of the Democratic Party, and incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon of the Republican Party. Kennedy defeated future-President Lyndon B. Johnson in the Democratic National Convention and asked Johnson to serve as his running mate, while Nixon won the Republican nomination comfortably, despite an early challenge from Nelson Rockefeller. This campaign is also notable for being the first to use televised debates between the candidates, including one that used split-screen technology, allowing the candidates to speak live from opposite sides of the country.

Campaign

Early in the campaign, both candidates were vibrant and charismatic, and garnered a loyal follower base. Kennedy spent most of his campaign criticizing the previous administration for falling behind the Soviet Union in terms of the military, economy and the space race, while Nixon highlighted the achievements made by Eisenhower's administration, and promised to build on them. Most historians agree that Kennedy's campaign was more structured and used better tactics than Nixon's, by canvassing heavily in swing states and districts instead of giving equal attention to all parts of the country (as Nixon did), with Kennedy focusing on metropolitan areas while Johnson canvassed in the south. Nixon's campaign was also more prone to mistakes, such as not preparing and refusing make-up for televised debates (making him look ill), while his running mate promised to elect African-Americans to the cabinet, however this just alienated black voters who were ambivalent in their reaction. Kennedy's connection with Martin Luther King Jr. also helped him to take a much larger share of the black vote than his opponent.

Results and Controversy

The popular vote was split by fewer than 120,000 out of seventy million votes. Kennedy took 49.7 percent of the popular vote, while Nixon took 49.5 percent. Nixon, however took more states than Kennedy, carrying 26 to Kennedy's 22, but Kennedy's tactical campaigning paid off, as his 22 states returned 303 electoral votes to Nixon's 219. Unpledged Democratic electors in the south gave 15 electoral votes to Harry F. Byrd, as they opposed Kennedy's stance on civil rights. Due to the close nature of the results, many Republicans called for recounts and accused the Kennedy campaign of cheating or committing voter fraud. For example, they highlighted that more votes were cast in certain districts of Texas (Johnson's home state) than the number of registered voters, and when Nixon lost Illinois despite winning 92 out of 101 counties, many suggested a link between the Kennedy campaign and organized crime syndicates in Chicago. These claims have subsequently been proven to be false, and historians generally agree that Kennedy's campaigning methods and Nixon's wastefulness won Kennedy the election. John F. Kennedy was subsequently named the 35th President of the United States, and is remembered favorably as one of the most popular and charismatic leaders in US history. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, less than three years into his first term, and was succeeded by his Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson.

This poll, conducted August 26-29, 2004, is part of a continuing series of monthly polls that solicit opinions on the presidency and on other political and social issues. Respondents were asked to evaluate the performance of United States President George W. Bush with respect to the campaign against terrorism, the economy, education, health care, the situation in Iraq, taxes, and uniting the country. Respondents were asked to comment on how closely they were following the 2004 United States presidential election, whether they were likely to vote, what, in their opinion, was the key issue, and their preferences among Republican incumbent George W. Bush, Democratic nominee Senator John F. Kerry, and independent candidate Ralph Nader. Specific questions sought to gain the respondents' opinions of Senator Kerry's military service record, certain political ads attacking its legitimacy, and whether the Bush campaign was behind these ads. Additionally, there were questions soliciting respondents' opinions on whether the Bush administration had intentionally misled the country about Iraq, whether the war in Iraq had been worthwhile, and whether they believed the war would improve the long-term security of the United States. In addition, respondents were asked whether they believed it should be legal for homosexuals to marry, and whether the United States Constitution should be amended to make homosexual marriage against the law. Background information includes age, callback receptivity, education, ethnicity, gender, geographic location, income, labor union membership, marital status, military service, political ideology, political party affiliation, religious affiliation, and voting history, including whether and for whom they voted in 2000.

Abstract (en): This special topic poll, conducted January 13-15, 1997, is part of a continuing series of monthly polls that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. This data collection was undertaken to assess public opinion prior to President Bill Clinton's second-term inauguration as president of the United States. Respondents were asked to give their opinions of President Clinton and his handling of the first term of his presidency, whether he would do a better or worse job in his second term in office, whether they approved of his choices for Cabinet and other top positions in his administration, and what the nature of his relationship with Congress should be in his second term. Views were sought on whether President Clinton had made progress toward reducing unemployment and improving education during his first term, and whether he would make substantial progress in these areas during his second term. Respondents rated the most important issue facing the country, whether they were better or worse off financially compared to four years ago, whether they approved of the way Congress was handling its job, whether they expected Congress to do a better job in the next two years, and whether they trusted the Clinton administration or the Republicans in Congress to handle the main problems the nation would face over the next few years. Other questions asked whether respondents approved of the way Hillary Clinton was handling her job as first lady and the amount of influence she held over her husband, and whether she should play a greater role in her husband's second administration. A series of questions asked about recent allegations involving President Clinton, including Whitewater, the Democratic National Campaign Committee's acceptance of foreign contributions, and former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones's sexual harassment charges, and whether they would interfere with his ability to serve as president. Additional topics addressed what actions the government should take to protect the long-term financial stability of Social Security and the Medicare health system and the overall level of ethics and honesty in politics and the federal government. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, household income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, and voter participation history. The data contain a weight variable (WEIGHT) that should be used in analyzing the data. This poll consists of "standard" national representative samples of the adult population with sample balancing of sex, race, age, and education. ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Created online analysis version with question text.. Persons aged 18 and over living in households with telephones in the contiguous 48 United States. Households were selected by random-digit dialing. Within households, the respondent selected was the adult living in the household who last had a birthday and who was home at the time of the interview. 2008-01-14 SAS, SPSS, and Stata setup files, and SAS and Stata supplemental files have been added to this data collection. Respondent names were removed from the data file and the CASEID variable was created for use with online analysis. Question text has been added to the codebook, and the data collection instrument has been taken out of the codebook and made into its own file. telephone interview (1) The data available for download are not weighted and users will need to weight the data prior to analysis. (2) Original reports using these data may be found via the ABC News Polling Unit Web site and via the Washington Post Opinion Surveys and Polls Web site. (3) The meaning of the variable SELECTB is unknown and may be associated with the sampling method of selecting a respondent based on the adult living in the household who last had a birthday. (4) According to the data collection instrument, code 3 in the variable Q909 also includes respondents who answered that they had attended a technical college. (5) Value labels for unknown codes were add in the variables RECODED_AGE and Q1. (6) The CASEID variable was c...

Abstract (en): This poll, fielded April 15-18, 2004, is part of a series of monthly polls that solicit public opinion on a range of political and social issues. Views were sought on the campaign against terrorism, the war with Iraq, and President George W. Bush and his handling of the presidency and issues such as the economy, education, Social Security, foreign affairs, and health insurance. Respondents were asked about the condition of the national economy, whether the country was going in the right or wrong direction, whether most Americans were better or worse off financially than they were in 2001 when Bush became president, their level of concern that they or a household member would lose their job in the next year, and whether recent price increases in gasoline had caused them any financial hardship. Several questions asked how closely respondents were following the 2004 presidential campaign, whether they would vote for President Bush, Democratic candidate John Kerry, or Independent candidate Ralph Nader, the strength of their support for Bush or Kerry, which candidate could be trusted to deal with the main problems facing the nation in the next few years, and the importance of issues such as the economy, the situation in Iraq, and same-sex marriage in their vote. Respondents were also polled on whether the war with Iraq was worth fighting, whether it contributed to the long-term security of the United States, whether the number of United States military casualties in Iraq so far was acceptable, whether military forces in Iraq should be increased, and whether they should remain until civil order was restored in Iraq, even if it meant continued United States military casualties. Other questions asked how closely respondents were following the news about the commission investigating the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, whether the government did all it reasonably could to try to prevent the terrorist attacks, whether the Bush administration was doing a better job handling intelligence about terrorist threats since the attacks, and whether President George W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton should bear any personal responsibility for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Opinions were also solicited on whether the Bush administration had a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq, whether the United States should proceed with its plans to transfer political power to a temporary government in Iraq on June 30, 2004, and whether this transfer would be symbolic or a real change of power. Additional topics addressed the effects of the result of the war with Iraq on the stability of the Middle East and the strength of the United States position in the world. Background information includes sex, age, education, ethnicity, marital status, religion, employment status, household income, social class, political orientation, political party affiliation, number of children living in the household, whether the respondent or a household member was currently serving in the military or was a military veteran, labor union membership, and voter registration and participation history. Persons aged 18 and over living in households with telephones in the contiguous 48 United States. Households were selected by random-digit dialing. Within households, the respondent selected was the adult living in the household who last had a birthday and who was home at the time of the interview. Additional information about sampling, interviewing, weighting, and sampling error may be found in the codebook.The data are provided as an SPSS portable file.This collection has not been processed by ICPSR staff. ICPSR is distributing the data and documentation for this collection in essentially the same form in which they were received. When appropriate, documentation has been converted to Portable Document Format (PDF), data files have been converted to non-platform-specific formats, and variables have been recoded to ensure respondents' anonymity.Produced by Taylor Nelson Sofres Intersearch, Horsham, PA, 2004.

This poll, conducted June 22-25, 2006, is part of a continuing series of monthly polls that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way President George W. Bush was handling the presidency and issues such as the economy and the situation in Iraq. Several questions asked which political party respondents trusted to handle the main problems the country would face in the next few years, whether they would vote for a Democrat or Republican candidate if the November 2006 election for the United States House of Representatives were being held that day, and which issue was most important in their vote. Views were sought on the war in Iraq and whether it had improved the lives of the Iraqi people, encouraged democracy in other Arab nations, and contributed to the long-term security of the United States. Respondents were polled on whether the Bush Administration and the Democrats in the United States Congress had a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq, how well the United States campaign against terrorism was going, whether the country was safer from terrorism than before September 11, 2001, and whether President Bush would be remembered more for the United States campaign against terrorism or the war in Iraq. A series of questions asked respondents whether they approved of the way United States military forces in Iraq were doing their job, whether a deadline should be set for their withdrawal from Iraq, and respondents' reactions to the alleged killings of Iraqi civilians by United States military forces. Additional topics addressed the death penalty, the federal government's detention of suspected terrorists without trial in the United States military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the federal government's progress in its efforts to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, household income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, religious preference, and whether respondents considered themselves born-again or evangelical Christians.

This poll, fielded October 4-8, 2007, is a part of continuing series of monthly polls that solicit public opinion on various political and social issues. This poll focused on Virginia and the state elections. Virginia residents were asked what was the biggest issue facing Virginia at that time, whether they thought the state of Virginia was moving in the right direction, and to rate the condition of Virginia's economy. Several questions asked whether respondents approved of the way the Virginia state legislature was handling its job, and for opinions of Governor Tim Kaine, Senator James Webb, Senator John Warner, the Republicans and Democrats in the state legislature, Junior Senator Mark Warner, Former Governor Jim Gilmore, and Congressman Tom Davis. Respondents were asked how closely they had been following the races for general assembly and state senate in Virginia, how likely they would be to vote in the Virginia state elections and for whom they would vote if the 2008 United States senate race were being held that day, which political party they would like to see in control of the state legislature, and which issues would be most important in their vote for the Virginia state legislature. A series of questions asked respondents about immigration, including how many recent immigrants lived in the respondents' area at the time, how much contact they had with recent immigrants, their opinions of immigrants and how they affect the country, whether illegal immigration was a problem in their area, and how federal, state, and local governments should handle illegal immigration issues. Information was also collected on how closely respondents were following the 2008 presidential race, how likely they were to vote in the 2008 presidential primaries in their state, for whom respondents would vote if the Democratic and Republican primaries and presidential election were being held that day, and for their opinions on the 2008 potential presidential candidates. Respondents were asked which political party they trusted more to handle issues such as taxes and the war in Iraq, which political party they preferred the next president to belong to, as well as whether they approved of the way George W. Bush was handling the presidency. Additional topics included the Iraq War, traffic congestion in their area of the state, Virginia's transportation funding plan, and Virginia's law on abusive driver fees. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, education level, household income, religious preference, frequency of religious attendance, whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christian, whether anyone in the household was a military veteran, marital status, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), whether respondents were born in the United States, how many years they had lived in the state of Virginia, voter registration status and participation history, political party affiliation, political philosophy, and the presence of children under the age of 18 in the household.

Abstract (en): This poll is part of a series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked to give their opinions on President George W. Bush's handling of foreign and domestic issues such as the economy, the war against terrorism, possible military action against Iraq, the budget, taxes, and North Korea. Respondents were also asked to give their opinions on how the policies of the United Nations would affect military action in Iraq, diplomacy with North Korea, the overall view of the state of the economy, the respondent's personal financial health, the present and future legality of abortion, interaction within communities of varying levels of diversity, affirmative action policies, capital punishment, state and federal budget problems, investments, race relations and discrimination, and preferences for candidates in the 2004 presidential primaries. Background information on respondents includes political orientation, age, sex, education, religion, military service, community demographics, and household income. Persons aged 18 and over living in households with telephones in the contiguous 48 United States. Households were selected by random-digit dialing. Within households, the respondent selected was the adult living in the household who last had a birthday and who was home at the time of the interview. Additional information about sampling, interviewing, weighting, and sampling error may be found in the codebook.The data are provided as an SPSS portable file.This collection has not been processed by ICPSR staff. ICPSR is distributing the data and documentation for this collection in essentially the same form in which they were received. When appropriate, documentation has been converted to Portable Document Format (PDF), data files have been converted to non-platform-specific formats, and variables have been recoded to ensure respondents' privacy.Produced by Taylor Nelson Sofres Intersearch, Horsham, PA, 2003.

This special topic poll, fielded October 16-20, 2008, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on a range of political and social issues. The topic of this survey was government performance in the state of Maryland, slot machines, and the budget deficit. Residents of Maryland were asked about the job performance of Governor Martin O'Malley and whether they approved of the way he is handling his job as governor. Respondents identified the most important issues facing the state of Maryland, whether the state was moving in the right direction, and rated the condition of the state economy. Respondents were also asked what the chances were that they would vote in the upcoming presidential election. Several questions asked for respondents' opinions on Question Two on the state ballot: the constitutional amendment about slot machines in Maryland. Respondents were asked whether they approved of having slot machines in Maryland, what was the main reason they either approved or disapproved of slot machines, and if the slots plan passed, they thought it would help the state's budget situation. Respondents were queried on their thoughts of the direction of the nation's economy as well as their own family's financial situation. Respondents were asked about their impressions of the candidates for Maryland governor in 2010, and who they would vote for in the election. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, household income, education level, voter registration status, political party affiliation, political philosophy, religious preference, religiosity, union membership, whether respondent is a born-again Christian, and the presence of children under age 18 living at the residence.

This special topic poll, conducted October 8, 2001, was undertaken to assess respondents' reactions to and feelings about the United States military action in Afghanistan. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way President Bush was handling the response to terrorist attacks in the United States, and whether they supported United States air strikes on Afghanistan and sending a significant number of United States ground troops into that country. Respondents were asked whether they believed that the United States government was doing all it reasonably could do to try to prevent further terrorist attacks and whether they supported United States military action against other countries supporting terrorism. Those polled expressed their level of concern about the possibility of further terrorist attacks (specifically biological and chemical) in America, and how confident they were in the abilities of the federal and local governments, police, and health agencies to respond effectively to a biological or chemical attack in the United States. A battery of questions focused on the Muslim religion and its believers, including whether respondents had a good basic understanding of Islam, how they viewed this religion, whether Arabs and Muslims had positive or negative opinions about the United States and reasons for these opinions, whether they thought the terrorists who attacked the United States in September were close in their views to the mainstream teachings of Islam, and whether they knew anyone who was a Muslim. Respondents also gave their opinions on whether the United States was doing enough to improve its image among Arabs and Muslims. Another subject of this survey was the Middle East. Those polled commented on whether they had more sympathy for Israel or for the Palestinian Authority, whether the United States should increase support for Israel or decrease support for Israel and recognize Palestine as an independent nation, and what was more important at this time--United States relations with Israel or with the Arab nations. Additional questions focused on the possibility of a broader war between the United States and its allies on one side and Arabs and Muslims on the other side, the efforts of the United States to avoid a broader war, and racial profiling and social consent for racial profiling as a tool against terrorism. Background information on respondents includes age, gender, race, Hispanic origin, religion, political party affiliation, political orientation, education, and objective size of community.

This poll, conducted March 16-19, 1995, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on a range of political and social issues. Respondents were asked to give their opinions of President Bill Clinton and his handling of the presidency, the economy, foreign affairs, and crime. Respondents were polled on the most important problem facing the country, whether they approved or disapproved of the way Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, and the United States Congress were doing their jobs, whether President Clinton or the Republicans in Congress would do a better job handling the country's problems, and whether each was seeking the right or wrong changes for the country. Opinions were solicited on whether the Republicans in Congress had begun to gridlock Washington, whether they kept most of their campaign promises, whether they proposed too many, too little, or the right amount of program cuts, and whether respondents supported or opposed most of their "Contract with America." A series of questions addressed the condition of the national economy, whether the federal budget could be balanced without raising taxes or cutting spending on Social Security and the military, and whether it was more important to pass a balanced budget amendment or to protect Social Security, maintain military spending, or hold down taxes. Respondents were asked whether they would vote for President Clinton or a Republican nominee in the 1996 presidential election, who the Republican and Democratic parties should nominate for president, and whether respondents held favorable or unfavorable views of Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, Vice-President Al Gore, Senator Phil Gramm, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell, Republican presidential nominee Lamar Alexander, and California Governor Pete Wilson. Opinions were also solicited on whether respondents had more trust in their federal, state, or local government to handle issues such as fighting crime, setting environmental regulations, establishing welfare rules, and protecting civil rights, and whether they supported or opposed term limits for United States Representatives, as well as laws discouraging frivolous lawsuits. Questions regarding affirmative action addressed whether women and minorities should receive preference in hiring and college admissions to make up for past discrimination, whether affirmative action programs increased opportunities for these groups, and whether they should be continued, changed, or eliminated. Respondents were also asked whether these programs resulted in fewer opportunities for White men, whether this would be justified, whether the respondent or a family member felt they had been denied a job because of their race or sex, and whether it made them angry. Additional questions asked how closely respondents followed the O.J. Simpson trial, whether he was getting a fair trial, and whether he was guilty or innocent. Background variables include age, sex, ethnicity, education, religion, employment status, household income, political orientation, political party affiliation, subjective size of community, social class, number and sex of children, labor union membership, whether the respondent was registered to vote, whether he or she voted in the 1992 presidential election, and if so, for whom.

This poll, fielded January 9-12, 2008, is a part of continuing series of monthly polls that solicit public opinion on various political and social issues. A national sample of 1,130 adults was surveyed, including an oversample of African Americans, for a total of 202 African American respondents. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way George W. Bush was handling his job as president and other issues such as the situation in Iraq and the economy, and whether they thought things in the country were going in the right direction. This poll focused on the 2008 presidential election, and asked respondents what was the single most important issue in their choice for president, how closely they had been following the presidential race, how likely they were to vote in the 2008 presidential primary or caucus in their state, and which candidate they would vote for if the Democratic and Republican primaries were being held that day. Iowa and New Hampshire residents were asked whether they voted in the 2008 primaries in their states and for whom they voted. Respondents were asked for their opinions of the 2008 presidential candidates, including which Democratic and Republican candidates they trusted to handle issues such as health care, the United States campaign against terrorism, immigration, and international affairs, which types of characteristics were important to them in a candidate, which candidate would bring the most change to Washington, and which candidate had the best chance to get elected as president in November 2008. Several questions asked whether respondents were more or less enthusiastic about the candidates based on the possibility that they could become the first president who was African American, female, Mormon, 72 years old when elected, or a Baptist minister, whether being African American would help or hurt Barack Obama's candidacy, and whether the country needed a president to lead the nation in the same direction as George W. Bush. Additional topics included abortion, respondents' economic and financial situation, and the war in Iraq. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, education level, household income, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), whether respondents rented or owned their home, voter registration status and participation history, political party affiliation, political philosophy, marital status, religious preference, and whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christian.

This poll is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. In this poll, respondents were asked about President Ronald Reagan's performance in office and the government's handling of the economy, with a special focus on United States involvement in Latin America. Demographic information on respondents includes age, sex, race, educational level, employment status, political party affiliation, voting history, and marital status.

This poll, conducted April 12-15, 2007, is part of a continuing series of monthly polls that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way George W. Bush was handling his job as president, whether they approved of the way Congress and their own representative in the United States House of Representatives were handling their jobs, and to compare how President Bush and the Democrats in Congress were handling issues such as the economy and the United States campaign against terrorism. Opinions were solicited on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Majority leader of the Senate Harry Reid, the 2008 potential presidential candidates, and how much progress Congress had made in the three months prior to the poll. Respondents were asked how closely they were following the 2008 presidential race, for whom they would vote if the 2008 Democratic and Republican primaries were being held that day and how strongly they supported that candidate, which candidate they thought would win their party's nomination, and how much respondents knew about their candidate's position on specific issues. Several questions asked about the war in Iraq, including whether the war in Iraq was worth fighting, whether the United States was winning the war in Iraq, whether the United States should keep military forces in Iraq until civil order is restored, whether Bush's decision to send additional military forces to Iraq was supported, and whether the United States should set a deadline for withdrawing its forces from Iraq. Respondents were also asked a few questions about Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, including whether they would be more likely to vote for John Edwards because his wife, Elizabeth, has cancer, and whether John Edwards should suspend his campaign due to his wife's illness. Additional topics included United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' handling of the firing of eight chief federal prosecutors, embryonic stem cell research, illegal immigrants, the condition of the nation's economy, gas price increases, and the firing of radio personality Don Imus due to making racially insensitive remarks during his radio show. This poll surveyed an oversample of African American respondents. Demographic information includes voter registration status and participation history, sex, age, race, income, marital status, religious preference, education level, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political philosophy, political party affiliation, whether the respondent or anyone in the home was a military veteran, and whether the respondent or anyone in the household was a member of a labor union.