NBC News is extremely interested in reporting and understanding what Americans think on a variety of political and social issues. As part of that effort, NBC News in partnership with SurveyMonkey, has conducted a set of polls that focus on the attitudes of Southerners, including those in a handful of specific Southern states, that address issues that will be important to voters in the upcoming 2018 midterm elections.
Since the 2016 election, much attention has focused on the South as it has become more politically competitive and election results in these states may be decisive in determining which party will control the House of Representatives and/or the Senate.
This particular set of polls, six all together, is one of the largest of its kind. The project is a collaboration with the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES) at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Mississippi, Vanderbilt University and Mississippi Today.
NBC News|SurveyMonkey is providing high-quality polling in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee as well as the South region, and the nation as a whole. Overall, the survey interviewed over 15,000 people.
Trump Approval
- A majority of adults in Mississippi (57%), Alabama (55%) and Tennessee (56%) approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president. Georgians are split—49% approve of President Trump and 49% disapprove.
- Across the regional South, 48% approve of President Trump and 51% disapprove.
- The President’s lowest approval ratings are nationally—among all Americans, 43% approve of the way he’s handling his job and 55% disapprove.
Congress Approval
- Overall, only 24% of Americans approve of the way Congress is handling its job, 73% disapprove.
- Only 27% of Southerners approve of the way Congress is handling its job and 69% disapprove.
State Approvals
- Majorities of adults in Alabama (53%), Georgia (57%), Mississippi (56%) and Tennessee (58%) approve of the way their state legislature is handling its job.
- Regionally, Southerners are less optimistic about the way their state legislature is handling it’s job—49% approve and 48% disapprove.
2018 Midterms
- Half of adults in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee would vote for the Republican candidate if the 2018 midterm elections were being held today. Around a third of adults in Alabama (32%), Mississippi (36%) and Tennessee (33%) would vote for the Democratic candidate
- Georgians are split– 42% would vote for the Republican candidate and 40% would vote for the Democratic candidate
- Southerners overall are also split—42% would vote for the Republican candidate and 40% would vote for the Democratic candidate.
- Nationally, however, Americans would vote for the Democratic candidate (44%) over the Republican candidate (38%).
State Economy
- Southerners are more optimistic than Americans overall about their state’s economy—69% rate their state economy as good compared to 61% nationally
- Of the four states polled, majorities in Georgia (74%), Tennessee (71%) and Alabama (61%) rate their state economy as good. But 49% of Mississippians rate their state economy as bad and 47% rate it as good.
National Economy
- Southerners are also slightly more optimistic about the national economy than Americans overall—66% of Southerners approve of the national economy and 30% disapprove. Nationally, 63% of adults approve of the national economy and 34% disapprove.
Infrastructure & Taxes
- Just over half of Americans (51%) think their state government is doing a poor job at maintaining roads, bridges and other infrastructure (47% think their state is doing a good job).
- A majority of Southerners (56%), on the other hand, think their state government is doing a good job at maintaining infrastructure and 42% think their state is doing a bad job.
- A majority of Georgians (55%) think their state government is doing a good job at maintaining infrastructure but majorities in Tennessee (53%) and Mississippi (61%) think their state government is doing a poor job and half of Alabamians think their state is doing a poor job at maintaining infrastructure.
- Majorities of all Americans (55%), all Southerners (56%), as well as Alabamians (53%), Georgians (59%), Mississippians (62%) and Tennesseans (58%) said they would be willing to pay higher taxes to fund improvements to infrastructure.
- Majorities of all Americans (55%), all Southerners (57%), as well as Alabamians (57%), Georgians (58%), Mississippians (60%) and Tennesseans (59%) would be willing to pay higher taxes to improve public schools in their state.
Immigration
- Seven in 10 Americans think most undocumented immigrants working in the U.S. should be offered a chance to apply for legal status and a quarter (26%) think they should be deported to the country they came from.
- There are similar findings among Southerners—69% think they should be offered a chance to apply for legal status and 28% think they should be deported.
- While state results are slightly less in favor of offering undocumented immigrants a chance to apply for legal status (60% in Alabama, 67% in Georgia, 63% in Mississippi and 61% in Tennessee), majorities share that sentiment. In Tennessee and Alabama, 36% said undocumented immigrants should be deported to the country they came from, 34% feel that way in Mississippi and 29% in Georgia.
Same-Sex Marriage
- 64% of Americans support allowing same-sex couples to marry legally and 33% oppose.
- 55% of Southerners (still a majority but a 9-point difference from the national results) support same-sex marriage and 42% oppose it.
- In Georgia, 51% support same-sex marriage and 45% oppose. But 49% of Tennesseans and 52% of Alabamians oppose same-sex marriage (47% in TN support it and 42% in AL).
- In Mississippi, where HB1523 has drawn attention to business owners’ rights, 65% said they think a business owner should be allowed to refuse to provide wedding services such as catering, flowers or wedding cakes to same-sex couples if it violates their religious beliefs. Only 3 in 10 think business owners should be required by law to provide the same services to same-sex couples as they would to all other customers.