Coloradans see national politics in crisis, deportations go "too far," ICE detaining wrong people
A new poll of voters finds Coloradans are deeply concerned about the state of politics in the country. The Colorado Polling Institute conducted the poll earlier this month, Nov. 1 through Nov. 5. The poll is a project of New Bridge Strategy and Aspect Strategic. Statewide, 622 voters were surveyed with a margin of error of 3.93%.
A total of 72% of Coloradans say the political situation in the United States is "in crisis."
"Boy, are people concerned about the state of politics right now. It's really striking," said Lori Weigel, a Republican pollster and Principal at New Bridge Strategy. "We had seven in 10 Coloradans tell us that they feel the political situation in the United States is in crisis. So not just 'has problems', but 'in crisis.'"
The poll also found that 77% of Coloradans think a third party is needed to adequately represent the American people, and 50% say a new third party should be more moderate than the other two parties.
"We saw majorities of Republicans, Democrats, unaffiliated voters telling us, yeah, we could use a third party," said Weigel. "Three-quarters of Colorado voters say that they don't think the two-party system is working adequately today. And in fact, so much so that they want a third party. Now they don't want a party that's out on the extremes, they want a more moderate party, half selected a more moderate party."
On immigration, a majority of Coloradans say President Trump's deportation policy has gone "too far" and is not properly focused.
"Almost two-thirds of Colorado voters said they are very or somewhat concerned that ICE is detaining people who should not be detained. And in fact that's quite a bit higher, almost three-quarters of Hispanic voters who say the same," added Weigel.
Here are the numbers: 54% of voters said President Trump's efforts to deport immigrants living in the United States illegally have gone too far. Some 64% say they're concerned that ICE is detaining people who should not be detained, with 73% of Hispanic voters saying they're very concerned that ICE is detaining people who should not be detained.
"Like many things in Colorado today, a lot of attitudes are driven by partisan affiliation, and so Republicans are more apt to view immigration efforts today positively than are unaffiliated voters and Democratic voters, so there's real partisan divides there," Weigel said.
On immigration, the poll also found 50% of voters say local law enforcement should be allowed to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, with only 37% of Hispanic voters responding yes on this question.
Some 89% of Republicans believe local police should be allowed to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, compared to 48% of unaffiliated voters and 18% of Democratic voters.
Another finding: 33% of Colorado voters believe that sports betting is bad for society, while half were neutral on its impact.
On Friday, the Colorado Polling Institute will release data on how Coloradans currently see pocketbook issues.