Raleigh, N.C. - Republican state senators have passed a bill to invalidate the City of Raleigh's lease for the former Dorothea Dix campus, but at least in Wake County, the main beneficiary of the proposed park, voters are strongly opposed to this bill.
Based on a recent telephone poll conducted by Public Policy Polling, Wake voters want the park by roughly 2:1 margins (52% support, 27% oppose), think the state should honor the lease (57-27), want the governor to veto the bill if it reaches his desk (54-27), and are less inclined to support the re-election of a legislator who votes for the bill (23% more inclined, 49% less inclined). By a smaller but still double-digit margin (50-38), voters also think throwing the lease out will harm the state's business reputation.
Almost two-thirds (63%) of the county's voters say they are very aware of the plan to replace the former hospital site with a destination park. Among these voters, the margins are even stronger, with 63% supporting the park, 65% saying the state should honor the contract, 62% saying Gov. McCrory should veto the bill, 54% saying the General Assembly's action will hurt the business climate, and 56% less inclined to vote for an anti-park legislator.
Further, Republican lawmakers are out of step with their own voters. As political as they have made this issue, there is far less polarization on the park than on most issues on which
PPP polls. Rank-and-file GOP voters in Wake County support the park by a six-point margin, think the state should honor the contract by 11 points, think their governor should veto the bill by 16, and are less inclined to support an anti-park candidate by five. Though they are skeptical about the business environment suggestion, still 39% of Republicans think it will be a detriment to our ability to attract business to the area.
"The City of Raleigh and the State of NC entered into a contract to create a 'central park' for NC," said Bill Padgett, President of Dix 306.
"The people have spoken; the state should honor its contract."
"Honoring the contract and creating a world-class destination park is the right thing to do for all of NC," said Jay Spain, Chair of FDDP.
PPP surveyed 604 Wake County voters from March 25th to 26th. The margin of error for the survey is +/-4.0%. This poll was paid for by Dix306. PPP surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews.
You can view the complete poll results on the Public Policy Polling Website at:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/DixParkResults.pdf
