In an election for President of the United States in Washington state, Democrat Barack Obama wins with Ron Paul on the ballot and wins with Ron Paul not on the ballot, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for KING-TV in Seattle.
Obama leads Republican Mitt Romney by 14 points in a 2-way, head-to-head match-up. Obama leads Romney by 13 points in a 3-way contest with Ron Paul on the ballot. Paul gets 20 points if he is on the Washington state ballot, and he takes approximately half of his support from Obama, and half of his support from Romney. Obama collects Washington’s 12 electoral votes in either case. Obama carried Washington by 17 points in 2008.
* 77% of those who vote for Obama do so enthusiastically (compared to 21% who vote for Obama with reservations).
* 55% of those who vote for Romney do so enthusiastically (compared to 43% who vote for Romney with reservations).
* 52% of those who vote for Paul do so enthusiastically (compared to 39% who vote for Paul with reservations).
Half of Rick Santorum supporters are reluctant to vote for Mitt Romney. In a 3-way contest for President, 20% of Santorum supporters vote for Paul, 14% vote for Obama, 52% vote for Romney.
In the election for Governor of Washington, Republican Rob McKenna and Democrat Jay Inslee now are effectively even, with McKenna a nominal 2-points stronger than Inslee – well within the survey’s possible error. McKenna leads by 14 points in Eastern WA, but the contest is even in the rest of the state. Compared to earlier SurveyUSA polls in January 2012 (when McKenna led by 3 points) and February 2012 (when McKenna led by 10 points), McKenna’s support among men has dropped about 9 points, while Inslee’s support among men is flat. Among WA women, both candidates are losing ground.
* 54% of those who vote for McKenna do so enthusiastically (compared to 39% who vote for Inslee with reservations).
* 49% of those who vote for Inslee do so enthusiastically (compared to 41% who have reservations).
* Voters say Inslee is stronger on education, but McKenna is stronger on creating jobs.
Washington voters are narrowly opposed to the national health care reform law: 46% oppose, 39% support. Voters more widely oppose the specific provision of the law which requires everyone to purchase a health insurance policy, 56% opposed to 36% in favor.
Cell phone and home phone respondents included in this research: SurveyUSA interviewed 660 Washington state adults 05/8/12 through 05/09/12. Of the adults, 557 were registered to vote. This research was conducted using blended sample, mixed-mode. Respondents reachable on a home telephone (75% of registered voters) were interviewed on their home telephone in the recorded voice of a professional announcer. Respondents unreachable on a home telephone (25% of respondents) were shown a questionnaire on their smartphone, tablet, laptop or other electronic device. In the contest for Governor, McKenna has a small advantage among home-phone respondents; Inslee has a small advantage among cell-phone respondents.