The Alaska Republican Party’s annual summer picnic returned to Kincaid Park Chalet on Thursday afternoon, and Must Read Alaska was on station with a two-question poll: 1. Which candidate for governor do you support, and 2. do you support or oppose your Permanent Fund dividend being used to pay for state government?
The results of the first question were 77 percent for Dunleavy and 23 percent for Treadwell.
Participants were given the choice of voting for Michael Sheldon, Mark Begich, and Bill Walker, as well.
With Sheldon receiving zero votes, the voting board was remodeled halfway through the evening to accommodate all the Dunleavy votes that were being cast with smiley-face stickers.
Surprisingly, Mark Begich received four votes at the Republican picnic, beating out Gov. Bill Walker, who received just one.
On the second poll, participants leaned against the use of Alaskans’ Permanent Fund dividends to fund state government:
The results of this question were 21 percent support, and 79 percent opposed.
The results of a poll like this at a Republican picnic are going to be different than a sidewalk poll conducted in downtown Anchorage, the heart of the second-most liberal legislative district in Alaska, District 20.
Downtown Anchorage will typically have a more liberal respondent to a sidewalk poll, as evidenced by the one KTVA conducted earlier this week on the same base question about the Permanent Fund. That sampling of 17 people had 9 people basically accepting the need for a reduced Permanent Fund dividend, and 8 opposing it.
And the ARP picnic poll results also differ from the Harstad Strategic Research poll conducted on behalf of the AFL-CIO several weeks ago, which also came up with a result of 51 percent of Alaskans understanding and supporting the necessity of a smaller Permanent Fund dividend, with just 43 percent opposed to the reduction.
FROM SIDEWALK POLLS TO LAWN GAMES
In spite of a sprinkling of rain, the lawn games were classic, with the egg-and-spoon relay being won by the team made up of West Anchorage Assembly candidates Sam Moore and Nikki Rose, who managed to not break their egg.
The three-legged race was won by the team of legislative candidates Forrest McDonald and Josh Revak, and the egg toss masters were Sen. Mike Shower and Lt. Gov. candidate Stephen Wright. All four are military veterans.
More than 250 people attended the picnic, which featured both leading gubernatorial candidates, Dunleavy and Mead Treadwell, who brought large entourages of supporters, and a dozen or more legislative candidates running on the Republican primary ballot.
Anyone else find it curious that Vince Beltrami contracted with Boulder, CO based Harstad Strategic Research to conduct their poll regarding the Permanent Fund Dividend? Was Dave Dittman too busy? Does the AFL-CIO not have an Alaska-hire preference policy?
“Does the AFL-CIO not have an Alaska-hire preference policy?” Excellent point!
I don’t trust these polls as far as I can throw them. August 21st will be the deciding factor for the Gubernatorial Governor Race and as I see it manipulating the polls like this is just asking for trouble in Alaska. Hillary had a bunch of polls come out in her favor and look what happen we got the Honorable President Trump as our President. God bless America and the great State of Alaska. Vote Michael D. Sheldon for Governor and Stephen Wright for Lt. Governor. We will band together as Brothers and Sisters to bring our State back on top by being a blessed State and not cursed by individuals out for their own glory with cloak and mirrors and the sort. We are being lied to and its time the truth came out.
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