August 11, 2022

CHATTANOOGA, TN –

According to a poll conducted by Embold Research for the Tennessee Democracy Forum, Tennessee voters support a series of steps to improve the economy. In the poll, voters were asked: “Do you support or oppose the following actions by the federal government?”

• 76% supported “taking a tougher stance against corporate mergers and acquisitions that limit competition and result in higher prices” (51% strongly supported and 26% somewhat supported).
•  56% supported “providing extra funding to help rebuild the economy in cities and towns that have lost population and jobs over the last two decades” (28% strongly supported and 28% somewhat supported).
• 55% supported “increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour with regular cost of living increases over time” (29% strongly supported and 15% somewhat supported).

“It is hard to have a pro-democracy movement without voters believing that political democracy will produce economic policy that benefits all Tennesseans,” said Emily Eichenthal, Coordinator of the Tennessee Democracy Forum. “That’s why the Tennessee Democracy Forum is turning its attention to economic democracy as well as political democracy.”

Research by the Poor People’s Campaign found that, in 2020, an estimated 45% of Tennessee low-income residents who were eligible to vote did not cast a ballot in the election. There was also a sharp division in the result in urban, high poverty precincts and rural, high poverty counties. In 2020, in Hancock County with a poverty rate of 28.6%, President Trump received 86.4% of the vote. In Hamilton County, President Biden received his highest percentage of the vote – 93% – in the Avondale precinct which has the highest concentration of low-income voters in the county.

On the question of the federal government taking a tougher stance on corporate mergers and acquisitions:

• 89% of Biden 2020 voters (70% strongly support) and 67% of Trump 2020 voters (37% strongly support) backed a greater federal role.
• A greater federal role won majority support among rural (74%), suburban (78%) and urban (75%) – with strong support ranging from 46% among urban voters to 53% among urban voters.
• 74% of women and 79% of men backed a tougher stance.
• Support for a tougher stance by the federal government won strong majority support from voters in every age group – 72% among 18- to 34-year-olds; 80% among 35- to 49-year-olds; 79% among 50- to 64-year-olds and 74% among voters 65 years of age or older.
• 76% of Black voters and 76% of white voters supported a tougher stance by the federal government.

On the question of federal funding for economically challenged cities and towns:

• 89% of Biden 2020 voters (52% strongly support) and 32% of Trump 2020 voters (10% strongly support) backed a greater federal role.
• A greater federal role won plurality support among rural voters (49%) and majority support from suburban (61%) and urban (68%) voters.
• 62% of women and 49% of men backed a greater federal role.
• Support for a greater federal role in helping to rebuild the economy in economically challenged cities and towns won majority support from voters in every age group – 65% among 18- to 34-year-olds; 57% among 35- to 49-year-olds; 53% among 50- to 64-year-olds and 51% among voters 65 years of age or older.
• 88% of Black voters and 52% of white voters supported a tougher stance by the federal government.

On the question of a $15 federal minimum wage:

• 93% of Biden 2020 voters (81% strongly support) and 26% of Trump 2020 voters (11% strongly support) backed a $15 federal minimum wage.
• A $15 federal minimum wage won majority support from suburban (59%) and urban (68%) voters but was opposed by a 49% - 47% plurality among rural voters.
• Women voters supported a $15 minimum wage (62% - 34%), while men opposed it (52% - 46).
• Support for a $15 minimum wage won majority support from voters in three age groups – 64% among 18- to 34-year-olds; 53% among 35- to 49-year-olds; and 52% among voters 65 years of age or older. Among 50- to 64-year-olds, a $15 federal minimum wage was supported by a 49% - 47% plurality.
• 84% of Black voters and 50% of white voters supported a $15 minimum wage.

The next Conversation on Democracy will be on Monday August 22nd at 7:00 PM ET at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The Conversation will feature Lisa Mensah, national expert on community and rural development, President of the Opportunity Finance Network and former Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development. Space is limited. Registration is required at TNDemocracyForum.org/Register.

About the Poll

Embold Research surveyed 1,125 registered voters in Tennessee, with an oversample of Hamilton County, from April 8-11, 2022. Respondents were recruited via dynamic online sampling and SMS text-to-web sampling to attain a sample reflective of the electorate. Post-stratification weighting was performed on age, gender, ethnicity, education, region, and vote history. Weighting parameters were based on voter file data. The modeled margin of error is 3.2%.  For more information on Embold Research, go to https://emboldresearch.com/.

About Conversations on Democracy

The results of the Tennessee Democracy Forum poll are being released over the coming months in conjunction with a series of a half dozen “Conversations on Democracy” to build support for a pro-democracy movement in Tennessee. Each conversation – both live remote and in person – will be an hour-long discussion of economic and political democracy focused on ongoing national and statewide issues. The Conversations will be open to the public and there will be an opportunity for questions from the audience. For more information on the “Conversations on Democracy” series, go to www.tndemocracyforum.org. The Tennessee Democracy Forum is a project of ForwardTN. For more about ForwardTN go to www.forwardtn.org.