Mayor Lenny Curry’s pension referendum effort is being seen in a slightly favorable light by voters, but not as much as the job he’s done so far as mayor.
Sheriff Mike Williams is even more popular than Curry, despite crime being the top concern in the city.
Those observations are part of the snapshot the University of North Florida revealed Monday in the school’s latest Public Opinion Research Lab poll.
The study conducted in late June asked for feedback from 596 registered likely Duval County voters on several topics, ranging from pension reform and job performances to the Human Rights Ordinance.
First and foremost was a topic gaining traction toward an Aug. 30 showdown: Opinions on Curry’s plan to extend a half-cent sales tax up to 30 years to pay down the city’s $2.8 billion unfunded pension liability.
In all, 41 percent of people polled said they were either strongly or somewhat in support of the plan. That trumps the 33 percent who said they were somewhat or strongly opposed to the idea.
While the lead falls out of the margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, it still shows there’s work to be done selling the plan, said Michael Binder, faculty director of the lab.
It is slightly more favorable than an early May UNF poll that showed 36 percent in support, 24 percent against and 40 percent not knowing.
Support in the poll released Monday transcended political affiliation, as Republicans and Democrats polled within 3 percentage points of both support and disagreement. However, the gap was much wider along racial lines.
Of white voters polled, 44 percent showed support for the plan opposed to 32 percent against it. Black voters approved with 35 percent — barely above the 34 percent who disagreed with the plan.
Both had more than 25 percent of respondents say they didn’t know how they’d vote on the issue.
Binder said efforts to garner support among African-American communities should be stronger heading to the primary election.
One reason? U.S. Rep Corrine Brown, despite recently being indicted, is still locked into a heated battle for her congressional seat.
Given that, more African-Americans are expected to head to the polls to weigh in on all issues on the ballot, said Binder.
Outside of that, Binder said shoring up support could come from a focused campaign — like Yes for Jacksonville — and recognizable endorsements for the plan.
Curry’s reform plan still has a majority vote, according to the poll, but not like his favorable rating for his first year.
Asked how he’s handling his job as mayor, 69 percent answered favorably in some form. Another 17 percent had a level of disapproval, while 15 percent didn’t know.
Such results aren’t uncommon after a first year, said Binder. Alvin Brown, Curry’s predecessor, polled at a 75 percent favorable rate in March 2012 in his first year on the job.
More so than Curry, though, Williams is a popular figure who also recently concluded his first year in office. Those polled provided a 72 percent favorable rating as opposed to 13 percent who disapproved. Another 14 percent didn’t know.
The sheriff’s high favorability comes despite residents naming crime their No. 1 most important problem facing Jacksonville at 38 percent.
Behind it came the economy and jobs at 16 percent, education at 15 percent and solving the pension problem at 14 percent.
Infrastructure improvements, Downtown and unnamed issues all polled below 10 percent, in that order.
A closer look at the racial breakdown of issues showed disparity.
While 34 percent of white voters said crime was the biggest issue, it soared to 54 percent for blacks. And showing how the pension issue isn’t resonating just yet with African-American voters, just 2 percent said it was the biggest issue compared to 18 percent of whites. That 2 percent is good for last on the list of issues provided by pollsters.
The Monday poll took a look at other Duval County ratings and issues, too.
Both the City Council and Duval County Public Schools superintendent hovered around the 50 percent favorability rate. Clerk of Courts Ronnie Fussell came in at 39 percent, although more than 50 percent didn’t know.
Outside pension reform, the Human Rights Ordinance might have been the biggest hot-button issue of the past year.
The UNF poll took a look at the issue again, this time with 56 percent of people having some form of favorable opinion to expanding local anti-discrimination laws to include the lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender communities. In opposition was 37 percent, while 8 percent didn’t know.
There was one large change from the past, though.
Broken down along party lines, Republicans were a net negative on the subject, with 51 percent of those polled speaking unfavorably while 38 percent were in favor. It was wildly the opposite for Democrats, as 77 percent were in favor while 17 percent were against.
Past polls never had a majority negative from a population.
Binder said he thought the “bathroom bill” issue that often accompanies recent conversation could be a factor in the change.
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