UNF Poll Shows Voters Optimistic, Mayor Brown Has High Approval Rating

Media Contact: Joanna Norris, Associate Director 

Department of Public Relations 

(904) 620-2102 

A new University of North Florida poll shows that not only are Jacksonville voters optimistic, but that Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown has an approval rate of 63 percent. 

“The surprising finding here is that Mayor Brown’s approval numbers are similar for both Democrats and Republicans. Unlike elected leaders in Washington and Tallahassee, he is doing OK with voters from both parties,” said Dr. Matthew Corrigan, chair of the UNF Department of Political Science and Public Administration, who oversaw the poll. “It is early in his term. The challenge will be to maintain these numbers throughout his term.” 

The survey was conducted through the use of Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing at a 27-station polling laboratory at UNF. A sample of the polling universe was selected through the use of Random-Digit-Dialing methodology. An additional cell phone sample is used to increase representation as well as an overlay sample. Gender and ethnic origin are weighted to statistics from the Supervisor of Elections for Duval County registered voters.  

The survey was conducted between Nov. 7 and Nov. 15 and includes 574 registered Jacksonville voters. Margin of error for the entire sample is +/- 4.09 percent. Approximately 120 UNF political science students participated in the data collection. 

          Among the findings: 

          --Jacksonville voters gave Mayor Alvin Brown a 63 percent approval rating, while 10 percent disapproved and 27 percent were undecided. 

          --When asked about the job Rick Scott is doing as governor of Florida, 40 percent of respondents approved of his performance, while 43 percent disapproved. More than 15 percent were undecided.  

          --When polled about whether voters were optimistic or pessimistic about the direction the city of Jacksonville is heading, 69 percent said they were optimistic. Almost 18 percent were pessimistic and 13 percent were undecided.  

          --When respondents were asked why they were optimistic about the direction of Jacksonville, some responses included budget-cutting, natural resources and a new administration. When asked why they were pessimistic about the direction Jacksonville is heading, some negative responses included the economy and crime.  

          --Respondents were asked if they would advise recent college graduates to start their professional careers in Jacksonville. Nearly 63 percent said they would recommend Jacksonville to recent college graduates, while 23 percent said they would not. The rest were undecided.  

-UNF-