LANSING, Mich. — With Halloween and Election Day just around the corner, a new poll finds most Lansing insiders believe voter should be most afraid of electing inexperienced officials on Nov. 2.
That was the major concern of 47 percent those polled. Thirty percent were most worried that candidates won’t be able to deliver on promises. Partisan gridlock, voter apathy, and the bed bug epidemic rounded out the list of dangers for Michigan voters.
The poll is the latest from the Rossman Group Lobby Guide Litmus Test survey of capitol insiders. The online poll was made available to all 475 members of The Rossman Group’s Legislator’s Guide to Lobbyists and Reporters (Lobby Guide) from Tuesday to Thursday. Members of the Lobby Guide include multi client lobbyists, trade association executives and capitol press corps members. As of 5 p.m. Oct. 28, 123 people completed the survey, which gives it a 25 percent response rate.
When asked who the biggest “boogeyman” has been in the 2010 campaign cycle, 28 percent of insiders chose “career politicians.” Nancy Pelosi was the second biggest boogeyman at 21 percent, and Tea Partiers third with 18 percent.
“Some people may be worrying about zombies, vampires and werewolves this Halloween weekend but according to the Lansing lobby corps, maybe we should be a little more concerned with the potential inexperience of the folks running for office,” said Josh Hovey, senior account executive at The Rossman Group.
Lobby Guide members were also quizzed on who they thought would be the next leaders of each party’s caucus in the new legislative session.
Rick Hammel was chosen as most likely to be the next leader for the House Democrats, with 82 percent of the vote. Another 15 percent said Woodrow Stanley would be the next leader, with the remainder selecting “someone else.”
For House Republicans, 80 percent of the capitol insiders said Jase Bolger would lead his chamber’s GOP caucus, while 20 percent said Paul Opsommer would be the leader.
On the Senate side, 70 percent of respondents said Randy Richardville would lead the Republicans, while 30 percent believed it would be John Proos.
For the Senate Democrats, an overwhelming 89 percent said Democrat Gretchen Whitmer would lead her party, while only 10 percent said Glen Anderson would lead the Democrats in the Senate.
Respondents self-identified as 75 percent male, 25 percent female, with 47 percent being involved in politics/government for more than 20 years, 44 percent between six and 20 years, and 9 percent zero to five years. Just over 40 percent of the respondents considered themselves Republicans, 22 percent Democrats and 31 percent Independent, with just one Tea Party member in the sample.
Contact: Josh Hovey, 517-487-9320 (office), 517-712-5829 (cell) Jhovey@rossmangroup.com