JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Gov. Jay Nixon changed the ballot date for the transportation tax measure from November 4, 2014 to August 5, 2014 and a recent study conducted by Washington, D.C. firm Normington, Petts and Associates concludes that the change will have no impact on the likely outcome.
Two separate telephone surveys were conducted among registered voters in Missouri who are likely to vote in the primaries on August 5. The surveys were conducted in June and have a sampling error of 2.3 percentage points.
“Among the voters who say they are likely to vote in the August 5th Missouri primaries, a majority would vote yes on a ballot referendum to enact a temporary sales tax of .75% to be used solely to fund state and local highways, roads, bridges and transportation projects for ten years, with priority given to repairing unsafe roads and bridges,” said the survey summary.
The summary goes on to share that support has remained strong since the measure was initially surveyed in March, with 51% of general election voters saying they support the measure in both March and May. The June survey showed 53% of primary voters support the measure.
In addition to the change not having an impact on the outcome, the survey also says that support for the measure is largely bipartisan, with 47% of Republicans, 48% of Independents, and 65% of Democrats supporting the measure.
Rachael Herndon was the editor at The Missouri Times and also produced This Week in Missouri Politics, published Missouri Times Magazine, and co-hosted the #MoLeg podcast. She joined The Missouri Times in 2014, returning to political reporting after working as a campaign and legislative staffer.
Rachael studied at the University of Missouri – Columbia. She lives in Jefferson City with her husband, Brandon, and their two children.