Are state employees overpaid? Poll finds majority of Oklahoma voters don't think so

Results from a recent SoonerPoll reveal an overwhelming majority of likely Oklahoma voters do not think state employees are paid too much or that they receive too many benefits.

Respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements. Results indicate that 85 percent of those polled disagreed with the statement "state employees, including teachers, are paid too much." Only 10.4 percent of respondents agreed with the statement, while 4.6 had no opinion.

Similarly, 80.4 percent of those polled disagreed with the statement "state employees, including teachers, receive too many benefits, such as health insurance and retirement." Only 13.5 percent of respondents agreed with the statement, while 6.1 had no opinion.

Further analysis indicates that Democrats are more likely that Republicans to disagree with both statements.

Results show that when asked about whether employees are paid too much 89.2 percent of Democrats disagreed compared to 80.4 percent of Republicans. When asked about benefits, 85.6 percent of Democrats disagreed compared to 75 percent of Republicans.

A similar pattern occurs when results are broken down by political label.

Additional analysis also reveals that 89 percent of women do not think state employees are paid too much compared to 80.4 percent of men. When it comes to state employee benefits, 84.9 percent of women do not think state employees receive too much compared to 75.4 percent of men.

SoonerPoll.com, Oklahoma's public opinion pollster, commissioned this poll. SoonerPoll.com conducted the scientific poll July 25-Aug. 11. Likely Oklahoma voters were selected at random and given the opportunity to participate in the poll by phone or online. Of the 587 respondents who participated, 17 took the survey online and 570 responded via telephone interview. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.04 percentage points.

Be sure to read guest political analyst Kurt Hochenauer's commentary on these results.