Friday, Aug. 19, 2005 | 10:44 a.m.
A statewide poll paid for by university Chancellor Jim Rogers showed Rep. Jim Gibbons with a slight lead over state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus in a potential 2006 gubernatorial contest.
The poll, conducted last month by Strategic Surveys Inc. of Las Vegas but released Thursday, also showed Gibbons, R-Nev., with more substantial leads in possible gubernatorial matchups against Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson and Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins of Henderson, all Democrats.
The poll also showed Nevadans would be more likely than not to vote for a gubernatorial candidate who supports abortion and opposes a ban on gay marriage.
And a majority of those polled said they would oppose a ballot initiative that would make regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education appointed by the governor rather than elected.
The poll also suggests that Nevadans want more money spent on issues such as education and transportation, but are not willing to pay increased taxes for it.
Rogers, a potential independent candidate for governor who heads Nevada's system of higher education and owns a media empire, released only a portion of the poll. Nothing about his potential candidacy was included in the material that was released.
And Gibbons was the only Republican included in the results that were released. Excluded were Republicans who have either declared their candidacy for governor or have been touted as possible candidates, including state Sen. Bob Beers of Las Vegas and Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt.
In the poll of 806 likely voters, with a margin of error of 3.5 percent, Gibbons was shown with a 43.6 percent to 38 percent lead over Titus, with 18.4 percent undecided or non-responsive.
Gibbons also had a 44.5 percent to 34.7 percent lead over Goodman, 41.9 percent to 23.2 percent edge against Gibson and 49.5 percent to 20 percent advantage over Perkins.
Although Titus came out better than Goodman in a race against Gibbons, Goodman was shown with a slight lead in a four-way Democratic primary. Goodman, at 30.1 percent, was followed by Titus (26.8 percent), Gibson (8.1 percent) and Perkins (1.8 percent), with 33.4 percent undecided or non-responsive.
Rogers, who paid $30,000 for the poll, said in a telephone interview from his Montana home that he had not read any of the results but had received a briefing from Josh Griffin, his employee and a university lobbyist. Rogers said none of the poll results surprised him or would influence his decision about whether to run for governor.
"I wanted to find out what the attitudes of the people were on the various issues," Rogers said. "It confirmed a lot of things we pretty much thought initially. We have not talked about a second poll, but I'm pretty sure that we will do more polling."
Respondents were asked if they would be more likely or less likely to vote for a candidate based on specific issues. Of those polled:
49.2 percent said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who is "pro-choice' on abortion, versus 26.6 percent who indicated they would be less likely.
Conversely, 42.2 percent said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who is "pro-life" on abortion, while 33.1 percent said they would be more likely to back that individual.
41 percent said they would be less likely to support a candidate who opposes a ban on gay marriage, versus 34.9 percent who indicated they would be more likely to vote for that person.
Conversely, 39.7 percent indicated they would be more likely to back a candidate who supports a ban on gay marriage, while 37.6 percent indicated they would be less likely to do so.
20 percent indicated they would be more likely to support a candidate from Southern Nevada, while 10.8 percent were less likely to do so.
Conversely, 18.1 percent said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate from Northern Nevada, versus 11.9 percent who indicated they would be less apt to do so. For the vast majority of respondents, the candidate's home base wouldn't matter.
75.5 percent indicated they would be more likely to back a candidate who wants to increase funding for Nevada's education system, versus 11.4 percent who said they would be less likely to do so.
Also, 55.9 percent said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports school vouchers, whereby parents can choose the school their child attends. Only 27.9 percent indicated they would be less likely to support that candidate.
68.5 percent said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports increased funding for transportation planning, development and enhancement in Nevada. Only 13 percent said they would be less likely to back such a candidate.
68 percent indicated they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports limiting state government spending "not to exceed the prior year's budget plus the rate of inflation and the rate of growth." Only 13.8 percent would be less likely to support such a candidate.
70.4 said they were more likely to vote for a candidate who supports property tax reform similar to California's Proposition 13. That law establishes property values at the time the property is bought and limits any increase in the taxable value of the property to no more than the rate of inflation or 2 percent, whichever is less. Only 16.9 percent said they would be less likely to vote for such a candidate.
A majority of respondents, 55.1 percent, also said they would oppose a ballot initiative that would change the Board of Regents from a body whose members are elected by popular vote to a board whose members are appointed by the governor. Only 14.7 percent indicated they would support such an initiative.
Rogers said he, too, prefers that Nevadans retain the power to elect members to the Board of Regents. It was the only poll result that he would address.
"I don't want that board changed," Rogers said. "I really don't. I get along with the board."
He said that if board members were to become appointed by the governor, "it would be a mess."
"It would be very distracting and it would set the members against each other," Rogers said. "They would be trying to curry the favor of the next governor and it just wouldn't work."
Of the poll's respondents, 31.2 percent considered themselves middle of the road politically, while 28.2 percent said they were somewhat conservative and 17.1 percent called themselves very conservative. Only 13.3 percent said they were somewhat liberal and only 8.8 percent described themselves as very liberal.
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