Results Of UNF’s Nov, 6, 2019, Jacksonville Speaks Out Poll
The University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab has released a new poll that asked registered Duval County voters a variety of questions on issues facing the city and school district. | Read the story
N = number of people surveyed
Jacksonville Speaks Out Poll, Nov. 6, 2019 – Part 1
What do you think is the most important problem facing Jacksonville today?
| Answer Options | Jacksonville Voters n=665 |
| Crime | 44% |
| Downtown Redevelopment | 9% |
| Economy/Jobs/Unemployment | 8% |
| Education | 13% |
| Healthcare | 4% |
| Public Transportation | 3% |
| Public Utilities | 2% |
| Tax Burden | 2% |
| The Environment | 4% |
| Something Else | 9% |
| Don’t Know | 2% |
Do you approve or disapprove of the way that Lenny Curry is handling his job as Mayor of Jacksonville?
| Answer Options | Jacksonville Voters n=649 |
| Strongly Approve | 18% |
| Somewhat Approve | 29% |
| Somewhat Disapprove | 13% |
| Strongly Disapprove | 16% |
| Don’t Know | 25% |
Do you approve or disapprove of the way the Jacksonville City Council is handling its job?
| Answer Options | Jacksonville Voters n=652 |
| Strongly Approve | 6% |
| Somewhat Approve | 30% |
| Somewhat Disapprove | 21% |
| Strongly Disapprove | 17% |
| Don’t Know | 25% |
Do you approve or disapprove of the way that Mike Williams is handling his job as the Sheriff of Jacksonville?
| Answer Options | Jacksonville Voters n=647 |
| Strongly Approve | 23% |
| Somewhat Approve | 31% |
| Somewhat Disapprove | 13% |
| Strongly Disapprove | 18% |
| Don’t Know | 16% |
Do you approve or disapprove of the way that Diana Greene is handling her job as the superintendent of Duval County Public Schools?
| Answer Options | Jacksonville Voters n=647 |
| Strongly Approve | 19% |
| Somewhat Approve | 25% |
| Somewhat Disapprove | 13% |
| Strongly Disapprove | 15% |
| Don’t Know | 29% |
How would you vote on a local referendum that reads:
To upgrade aging schools through repairs and modernization, to keep schools safe and to continue to promote a conducive learning environment, to improve technology, and to replace existing or build new schools, shall the Duval County School Board be authorized to levy a 15year half-cent sales surtax, with expenditures based upon the Surtax Capital Outlay Plan, and monitored by an independent citizens committee?
| Answer Options | Jacksonville Voters n=662 |
| For the Half-Cent Tax | 74% |
| Against the Half-Cent Tax | 20% |
| Would not vote | 2% |
| Don’t Know | 4% |
| Answer Options
| Democratic Voters n=275 | Republican Voters n=237 | NPA Voters n=152 |
| For the Half-Cent Tax | 78% | 68% | 78% |
| Against the Half-Cent Tax | 15% | 28% | 16% |
| Would not vote | 2% | 2% | 0% |
| Don’t Know | 5% | 3% | 5% |
Currently, the Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools is a position appointed by the School Board. Do you believe the position should continue to be appointed, or should the Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools be elected by Duval County voters?
| Answer Options | Jacksonville Voters n=658 |
| Appointed | 25% |
| Elected | 70% |
| Don’t Know | 5% |
Do you support or oppose decriminalizing marijuana in Duval County that would allow for civil citations rather than arrests for adults caught with less than 20 grams of marijuana?
| Answer Options | Jacksonville Voters n=654 |
| Strongly Support | 61% |
| Somewhat Support | 14% |
| Somewhat Oppose | 5% |
| Strongly Oppose | 16% |
| Don’t Know | 5% |
| Answer Options
| Democratic Voters n=268 | Republican Voters n=236 | NPA Voters n=151 |
| Strongly Support | 66% | 47% | 72% |
| Somewhat Support | 12% | 20% | 11% |
| Somewhat Oppose | 5% | 6% | 1% |
| Strongly Oppose | 14% | 23% | 11% |
| Don’t Know | 3% | 5% | 5% |
Do you support or oppose the City of Jacksonville banning restaurants and retailers from distributing single-use plastic straws?
| Answer Options | Jacksonville Voters n=653 |
| Strongly Support | 26% |
| Somewhat Support | 16% |
| Somewhat Oppose | 17% |
| Strongly Oppose | 30% |
| Don’t Know | 11% |
| Answer Options
| Democratic Voters n=273 | Republican Voters n=228 | NPA Voters n=150 |
| Strongly Support | 31% | 18% | 30% |
| Somewhat Support | 18% | 12% | 17% |
| Somewhat Oppose | 17% | 20% | 12% |
| Strongly Oppose | 22% | 43% | 27% |
| Don’t Know | 13% | 8% | 13% |
Survey Demographics
| Telephone | Jacksonville Voters n=665 |
| Landline | 17% |
| Cell phone | 84% |
What is the highest grade in school or year of college you have completed?
| Education | Jacksonville Voters n=660 |
| Less than high school | 4% |
| High school graduate | 24% |
| Some college | 44% |
| College graduate | 19% |
The next part of the poll is data dense and is best viewed on a desktop or laptop screen. Small screens, such as smartphones, may not be able to accommodate the width required to display some of the answer fields.
Jacksonville Speaks Out Poll, Nov. 6, 2019 – Part 2
| What do you think is the most important problem facing Jacksonville today? | ||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Sex | Education (College Degree) | Race/Ethnicity | Age | ||||||||||||||
| Total | Dem | Rep | NPA/Other | M | F | Yes | No | White | Afr Amer /Black | Hispanic | Other | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ | |
| Subset N | 662 | 272 | 237 | 150 | 295 | 366 | 184 | 474 | 386 | 186 | 36 | 55 | 65 | 130 | 113 | 112 | 114 | 128 |
| Crime | 45% | 45% | 53% | 31% | 39% | 48% | 40% | 46% | 46% | 46% | 25% | 36% | 28% | 33% | 45% | 45% | 59% | 50% |
| Downtown Redevelopment | 9% | 8% | 10% | 11% | 11% | 7% | 13% | 8% | 9% | 5% | 8% | 24% | 20% | 11% | 6% | 10% | 7% | 5% |
| Economy/Jobs/Unemployment | 8% | 11% | 3% | 11% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 5% | 14% | 14% | 6% | 9% | 7% | 10% | 13% | 4% | 6% |
| Education | 13% | 13% | 12% | 17% | 13% | 14% | 16% | 12% | 15% | 12% | 6% | 6% | 15% | 17% | 19% | 13% | 6% | 11% |
| Healthcare | 4% | 4% | 3% | 7% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 2% | 6% | 17% | 11% | 5% | 3% | 3% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| Public Transportation | 3% | 3% | 3% | 5% | 4% | 3% | 5% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 8% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 4% | 3% | – | 2% |
| Public Utilities | 2% | 3% | 2% | – | 3% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 3% | 2% | – | – | 2% | 2% | 2% | – | 3% | 4% |
| Tax Burden | 2% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 1% | 3% | 3% | 2% | – | 2% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 1% | 5% |
| The Environment | 4% | 4% | 2% | 5% | 3% | 4% | 5% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 8% | 6% | 8% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 5% |
| Something Else | 8% | 6% | 8% | 11% | 10% | 7% | 6% | 8% | 10% | 5% | 14% | 2% | 5% | 15% | 5% | 5% | 8% | 8% |
| Don’t Know | 2% | 3% | 2% | 1% | 3% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 2% | – | 4% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 1% |
| Do you approve or disapprove of the way that Lenny Curry is handling his job as Mayor of Jacksonville? | ||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Sex | Education (College Degree) | Race/Ethnicity | Age | ||||||||||||||
| Total | Dem | Rep | NPA/Other | M | F | Yes | No | White | Afr Amer /Black | Hispanic | Other | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ | |
| Subset N | 649 | 269 | 235 | 143 | 292 | 357 | 181 | 463 | 380 | 179 | 36 | 57 | 64 | 127 | 110 | 111 | 108 | 127 |
| Strongly Approve | 18% | 12% | 29% | 11% | 20% | 16% | 17% | 18% | 22% | 12% | 17% | 14% | 8% | 11% | 18% | 25% | 19% | 22% |
| Somewhat Approve | 28% | 24% | 37% | 23% | 28% | 29% | 30% | 28% | 30% | 28% | 25% | 19% | 31% | 28% | 25% | 21% | 31% | 36% |
| Somewhat Disapprove | 13% | 15% | 11% | 10% | 11% | 14% | 13% | 13% | 10% | 18% | 14% | 11% | 9% | 13% | 11% | 15% | 13% | 12% |
| Strongly Disapprove | 16% | 26% | 7% | 13% | 16% | 16% | 18% | 15% | 15% | 20% | 17% | 16% | 14% | 10% | 17% | 13% | 26% | 17% |
| Don’t Know | 25% | 23% | 16% | 43% | 25% | 25% | 22% | 26% | 23% | 22% | 28% | 40% | 38% | 37% | 29% | 26% | 12% | 13% |
| Do you approve or disapprove of the way that the Jacksonville City Council is handling its job? | ||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Sex | Education (College Degree) | Race/Ethnicity | Age | ||||||||||||||
| Total | Dem | Rep | NPA/Other | M | F | Yes | No | White | Afr Amer /Black | Hispanic | Other | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ | |
| Subset N | 652 | 274 | 232 | 147 | 295 | 357 | 183 | 466 | 379 | 182 | 36 | 55 | 64 | 128 | 112 | 111 | 110 | 126 |
| Strongly Approve | 6% | 6% | 9% | 3% | 8% | 5% | 9% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 8% | 6% | 5% | 6% | 10% | 9% | 6% | 3% |
| Somewhat Approve | 30% | 25% | 35% | 33% | 31% | 29% | 33% | 29% | 31% | 27% | 25% | 38% | 41% | 25% | 35% | 32% | 26% | 28% |
| Somewhat Disapprove | 21% | 22% | 23% | 17% | 18% | 24% | 21% | 22% | 21% | 24% | 14% | 16% | 14% | 21% | 18% | 16% | 26% | 27% |
| Strongly Disapprove | 18% | 22% | 12% | 18% | 21% | 14% | 15% | 19% | 14% | 20% | 33% | 20% | 14% | 21% | 8% | 16% | 24% | 19% |
| Don’t Know | 25% | 26% | 21% | 30% | 22% | 28% | 22% | 26% | 28% | 22% | 19% | 20% | 27% | 27% | 30% | 26% | 18% | 23% |
| Do you approve or disapprove of the way that Diana Greene is handling her job as the Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools? | ||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Sex | Education (College Degree) | Race/Ethnicity | Age | ||||||||||||||
| Total | Dem | Rep | NPA/Other | M | F | Yes | No | White | Afr Amer /Black | Hispanic | Other | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ | |
| Subset N | 647 | 272 | 230 | 143 | 291 | 356 | 183 | 458 | 374 | 182 | 35 | 54 | 64 | 124 | 111 | 110 | 112 | 126 |
| Strongly Approve | 18% | 21% | 15% | 20% | 13% | 23% | 22% | 17% | 15% | 26% | 26% | 13% | 14% | 16% | 18% | 21% | 23% | 18% |
| Somewhat Approve | 25% | 29% | 22% | 22% | 24% | 26% | 26% | 24% | 27% | 24% | 9% | 30% | 30% | 21% | 28% | 23% | 20% | 30% |
| Somewhat Disapprove | 13% | 11% | 16% | 11% | 14% | 12% | 13% | 13% | 14% | 9% | 11% | 15% | 6% | 15% | 14% | 19% | 10% | 10% |
| Strongly Disapprove | 15% | 15% | 17% | 14% | 17% | 14% | 10% | 18% | 14% | 16% | 29% | 15% | 17% | 19% | 15% | 10% | 13% | 18% |
| Don’t Know | 29% | 24% | 31% | 33% | 33% | 24% | 28% | 28% | 31% | 25% | 26% | 28% | 33% | 30% | 25% | 27% | 35% | 23% |
| How would you vote on a local referendum that reads: To upgrade aging schools through repairs and modernization, to keep schools safe and to continue to promote a conducive learning environment, to improve technology, and to replace existing or build new schools, shall the Duval County School Board be authorized to levy a 15-year half-cent sales surtax, with expenditures based upon the Surtax Capital Outlay Plan, and monitored by an independent citizens committee? Would you vote… | ||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Sex | Education (College Degree) | Race/Ethnicity | Age | ||||||||||||||
| Total | Dem | Rep | NPA/Other | M | F | Yes | No | White | Afr Amer /Black | Hispanic | Other | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ | |
| Subset N | 662 | 275 | 237 | 152 | 299 | 364 | 183 | 473 | 385 | 187 | 36 | 55 | 66 | 132 | 114 | 111 | 111 | 128 |
| For the Half-Cent Tax | 74% | 78% | 68% | 78% | 74% | 75% | 78% | 73% | 74% | 75% | 64% | 80% | 83% | 77% | 75% | 69% | 80% | 67% |
| Against the Half-Cent Tax | 20% | 15% | 28% | 16% | 22% | 18% | 19% | 21% | 22% | 16% | 31% | 15% | 8% | 14% | 18% | 30% | 17% | 27% |
| Would not vote | 2% | 2% | 2% | – | 1% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 2% | – | – | – | 2% | 2% | – | 3% | 2% |
| Don’t Know | 4% | 5% | 3% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 2% | 5% | 3% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 9% | 8% | 5% | 1% | – | 3% |
| Currently, the Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools is a position appointed by the School Board. Do you believe the position should continue to be appointed, or should the Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools be elected by Duval County voters? | |||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Sex | Education (College Degree) | Race/Ethnicity | Age | |||||||||||||||
| Total | Dem | Rep | NPA/Other | M | F | Yes | No | White | Afr Amer /Black | Hispanic | Other | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ | ||
| Subset N | 658 | 274 | 234 | 150 | 298 | 360 | 182 | 470 | 383 | 185 | 36 | 54 | 65 | 130 | 113 | 112 | 110 | 127 | |
| Appointed | 25% | 26% | 27% | 21% | 25% | 26% | 40% | 20% | 27% | 23% | 8% | 28% | 14% | 27% | 23% | 22% | 19% | 36% | |
| Elected | 70% | 70% | 67% | 71% | 71% | 69% | 56% | 75% | 68% | 73% | 69% | 69% | 80% | 66% | 73% | 73% | 75% | 56% | |
| Don’t Know | 5% | 4% | 6% | 7% | 5% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 22% | 4% | 6% | 7% | 2% | 5% | 6% | 6% | |
| Do you support or oppose decriminalizing marijuana in Duval County that would allow for civil citations rather than arrests for adults caught with less than 20 grams of marijuana? | |||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Sex | Education (College Degree) | Race/Ethnicity | Age | |||||||||||||||
| Total | Dem | Rep | NPA/Other | M | F | Yes | No | White | Afr Amer /Black | Hispanic | Other | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ | ||
| Subset N | 654 | 268 | 236 | 151 | 294 | 358 | 183 | 465 | 383 | 180 | 37 | 54 | 64 | 132 | 113 | 111 | 106 | 127 | |
| Strongly Support | 61% | 66% | 47% | 72% | 63% | 59% | 59% | 61% | 59% | 64% | 51% | 67% | 72% | 74% | 66% | 63% | 55% | 39% | |
| Somewhat Support | 14% | 12% | 20% | 11% | 14% | 15% | 18% | 13% | 18% | 9% | 16% | 4% | 19% | 9% | 20% | 14% | 9% | 17% | |
| Somewhat Oppose | 5% | 5% | 6% | 1% | 2% | 6% | 6% | 4% | 4% | 7% | 5% | – | 5% | 3% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% | |
| Strongly Oppose | 16% | 14% | 23% | 11% | 17% | 16% | 13% | 18% | 15% | 17% | 22% | 20% | 3% | 7% | 8% | 13% | 27% | 34% | |
| Don’t Know | 4% | 3% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 4% | 5% | 2% | 5% | 9% | 2% | 7% | 1% | 5% | 5% | 5% | |
| Do you support or oppose the City of Jacksonville banning restaurants and retailers from distributing single-use plastic straws? | |||||||||||||||||||
| Party | Sex | Education (College Degree) | Race/Ethnicity | Age | |||||||||||||||
| Total | Dem | Rep | NPA/Other | M | F | Yes | No | White | Afr Amer /Black | Hispanic | Other | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ | ||
| Subset N | 653 | 273 | 228 | 150 | 295 | 359 | 183 | 465 | 377 | 185 | 36 | 55 | 64 | 132 | 114 | 112 | 109 | 121 | |
| Strongly Support | 26% | 31% | 18% | 30% | 24% | 28% | 30% | 24% | 24% | 25% | 28% | 36% | 36% | 24% | 25% | 26% | 29% | 22% | |
| Somewhat Support | 16% | 18% | 12% | 17% | 13% | 18% | 16% | 15% | 17% | 13% | 22% | 9% | 20% | 15% | 14% | 16% | 19% | 17% | |
| Somewhat Oppose | 17% | 17% | 20% | 12% | 22% | 13% | 16% | 18% | 17% | 17% | 3% | 27% | 16% | 19% | 24% | 18% | 10% | 14% | |
| Strongly Oppose | 31% | 22% | 43% | 27% | 30% | 31% | 29% | 31% | 29% | 32% | 44% | 22% | 23% | 30% | 23% | 36% | 37% | 32% | |
| Don’t Know | 11% | 13% | 8% | 13% | 12% | 11% | 9% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 3% | 6% | 5% | 12% | 15% | 5% | 10% | 16% | |
| Nature of the Sample | |||||||||||||||||||
| Florida Voters | n=665 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Party Registration | |||||||||||||||||||
| Democrat | 41% | ||||||||||||||||||
| Republican | 36% | ||||||||||||||||||
| NPA/Other | 23% | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sex | |
| Male | 45% |
| Female | 55% |
| Education (College Degree) | |
| Less than high school | 4% |
| High school graduate | 24% |
| Some college | 44% |
| College graduate | 19% |
| Post graduate degree | 9% |
| Race/Ethnicity | |
| White | 58% |
| African American/Black | 28% |
| Hispanic | 5% |
| Other | 8% |
| Age | |
| 18-24 | 10% |
| 25-34 | 20% |
| 35-44 | 17% |
| 45-54 | 17% |
| 55-64 | 17% |
| 65+ | 19% |
Methodology
The UNF Jax Speaks Poll was conducted and sponsored by the Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida, from Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019, through Monday, Nov. 4, 2019, by live callers via the telephone; calls were made from 4 to 9 p.m. daily, with a maximum of five callbacks attempted. Interviews were conducted in English by UNF undergraduate students and employees. Data collection took place at the PORL facility with its 27-station Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) system. The phone numbers used for this survey were sourced from the Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, update of the Florida Voter File. The sample frame was comprised of registered Florida voters who reside in Jacksonville. Overall, there were 665 completed surveys of Florida registered voters, 18 years of age or older.
The margin of sampling error for the total sample is +/- 3.8 percentage points. The breakdown of completed responses on a landline phone to a cell phone was 17% to 84%. Through hand dialing, an interviewer upon reaching the individual as specified in the voter file asked that respondent to participate, regardless of landline telephone or cell phone. Data were then weighted by partisan registration, age, race, sex and education. Education weights were created from the 2017 American Community Survey (ACS). Partisan registration, sex, race and age weights were created from the Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, update of the Florida Voter File to match the active registered voters in Florida. These demographic characteristics were pulled from the voter file list.
All weighted demographic variables were applied using the SPSS version 25 rake weighting function, which won’t assign a weight if one of the demographics being weighted on is missing. In this case, respondents missing a response for education were given a weight of 1. There were no statistical adjustments made due to design effects. This study had a 14.4% response rate. The American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Response Rate 3 (RR3) calculation was used which consists of an estimate of what proportion of cases of unknown eligibility are truly eligible. This survey was sponsored by the UNF PORL and directed by Dr. Michael Binder, UNF associate professor of political science.
