FDU PublicMind - October 31, 2005 Release

The Better Contest

New Jersey likely voters, by a 5 to 3 margin (51%-30%), say they're following the race for governor more closely than big time sports such as football, baseball and hockey according to the most recent Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll. Another 11% say they follow both types of contests about the same.

However, men and women differ significantly on this question. Among men who are likely voters, 39% say they're following the governor's race more closely than sports, but 41% say they're paying more attention to sports, and 16% say they're paying equal attention to both.

Among women who are likely voters, 61% say they're following the governor's race more closely than sports, only 21% say they're following sports more closely than the political race, and only 7% say they're following both equally.

Likely voters who are still undecided as to which candidate for New Jersey Governor to vote for are about evenly divided, with about 38% saying they're watching sports and 34% saying they're watching the governor's race. By contrast, a majority (52%) of those voters who have made their choice of candidate are following the governor's race more closely than big time sports (30%).

“With voter turnout in a downward trend, it's encouraging to know that the race for governor beats out other contests among some voters,” said Peter Woolley, who teaches government and politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

However, while a majority of voters 35 and over say they follow the election more closely than sports, 62% of likely voters under 35 say they're following sports more closely than the election. "It's unfortunate but not surprising that young people are more tuned into sports than the gubernatorial race. Young people are especially susceptible to inattentiveness, even among likely voters," added Krista Jenkins, a professor of political science who researches civic participation.

The PublicMind poll of 442 likely voters statewide was conducted by telephone from October 20 through October 26 and has a margin of error of +/-5 percentage points. PublicMind continues to conduct interviews through the final week of campaigning and will frequently update its numbers from its tracking poll.

Poll Analysis

Contacts:

Peter Woolley 973.670.3239
or
Krista Jenkins 973.443.8390

Radio actuality line: (201) 692-2846.

For more information, please call (201) 692-7032.