News9/Newson6: Are State Leaders Taking Oklahoma In The Right Direction?

BY JUSTIN DOUGHERTY, NEWS 9

In a News 9 exclusive poll, we wanted to know if Oklahomans think our state is headed in the right or wrong direction.

For the first time in years the majority of people voted a different way.

In fact, 51 percent polled say Oklahoma is going in the wrong direction. 38 percent feel the state is going in the right direction. About 11 percent say they're unsure.

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[QUESTION] Do you believe the state of Oklahoma is going in the right direction or the wrong direction?

1. Right direction 38.4%
2. Wrong direction 50.7
3. Don't know/refused [DNR] 10.9

Additional Take-aways from the poll results:

• While 66.7% of Democrats believe Oklahoma is going in the wrong direction, 52.9% of Republicans believe the state is going in the right direction.  Independents, however, believe the state is going in the wrong direction (64.6%).
• 61.6% of voters who believe socials issues are the most important issues believe Oklahoma is going in the right direction, but 75.7% of education issue voters believe the state is going in the wrong direction.  Economic voters, while the plurality of the electorate, are divided with 46.5% saying the right direction and 42.3% saying the wrong direction.
• Barely a majority of conservatives, the majority of the state's electorate, believe the state is going in the right direction (53.4%), but liberals and moderates believe the state is on the wrong track, 83.6% and 68.8% respectively.
• A majority of men believe Oklahoma is going in the wrong the direction (54.6%), but only a plurality of women (47.6%).
• A majority of every age group believes the state is going in the wrong direction, except for those 65yrs and older (the largest group in the electorate) where a plurality (41.5%) said the wrong direction.
• The largest percentage of those saying the state is headed in the wrong direction were in the two congressional districts that represent Oklahoma's two largest cities: Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

About the Poll

SoonerPoll.com, Oklahoma’s public opinion pollster, conducted the poll of Oklahoma likely voters, which was commissioned by News9 and Newson6.

The scientific study was conducted October 6, 2016 with 403 likely Oklahoma voters selected at random statewide from a frame of landline telephone and conducted using IVR (Interactive Voice Response) technology. The sample was weighted by age and congressional district in order to reflect the Oklahoma likely voter population for a general election.

The sample reflects the traditional demographical profile of the Oklahoma likely voter with roughly half of respondents identifying as conservative and attending religious services once or more per week. The study has a Margin of Error (MoE) of ±4.88 percent.