F&M Poll

Franklin & Marshall College Poll

The 23rd year of consecutive polling in Pennsylvania

Below are the highlights of the January 2014, Franklin & Marshall College Poll of Pennsylvania voters. Complete results will be posted shortly and can be found at http://politics.fandm.edu

• Only one in four registered voters (25%) think Pennsylvania is headed in the right direction.

• Nearly one in three (31%) voters believes unemployment and the economy is the state’s most important problem, followed closely by schools and school funding (19%).

• Slightly more than one in four (23%) voters believes Governor Tom Corbett is doing an "excellent" or "good" job as governor, which is a slight increase (19%) from the ratings he received in the Oct 2013, Franklin & Marshall College Poll. About one in three (38%) Republicans rate his performance as "excellent" or "good."

• Just about one in four (23%) voters believes Governor Corbett has performed sufficiently well to deserve re-election.

• One in three (30%) registered Pennsylvania voters believe President Obama is doing an "excellent" or "good" job as president which is lower than his October rating of 39 percent. The president’s personal favorability ratings have also declined since October, falling to 42% from 50% favorable.

• Slightly more than one in three (36%) believe that marijuana should be made legal while 58 percent oppose. But, 81 percent favor allowing adults to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a doctor recommends it while just 16 percent oppose.

• Now 56 percent of voters support the legalization of gay marriage with 39 percent opposing it.

• A large percentage (72%) of voters favor a state law that makes it illegal to discriminate in employment or housing practices based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

• Nearly two in three voters (64%) have a favorable opinion of the natural gas drilling industry, but opinion is divided about whether the potential economic benefits outweigh the possible environmental damage from drilling, with 40 percent saying economic benefits outweigh potential environmental damage and 37 percent saying potential environmental risks outweigh economic benefits.

This survey reflects interviews with 580 Pennsylvania registered voters conducted by the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College from January 22-27, 2014 (sample error of +/- 4.1 percentage points).

The Franklin & Marshall College Poll is produced in conjunction with the Philadelphia Daily News, WGAL-TV (South Central PA), Pittsburgh Tribune Review, WTAE-TV (Pittsburgh), WPVI-TV6/ABC (Philadelphia), Times-Shamrock Newspapers, Harrisburg Patriot-News/Penn Live, Lancaster Newspapers and the Reading Eagle. It may be used in whole or in part, provided any use is attributed to Franklin & Marshall College.

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