Most Michigan voters are paying attention to the Jan. 6 hearings being held in Washington, but more are split on possible criminal charges for former President Donald Trump, according to a new WDIV/Detroit News poll.
The July 2022 survey found that most voters, regardless of party affiliation, feel that democracy is under attack, though voters have different ideas of who is doing the biggest damage.
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Here are some of the key findings from this portion of the survey:
Voters following Jan. 6 hearings
- 55.2% of voters in the WDIV/Detroit News survey said they were paying attention to the Jan. 6 hearings. 25% said they were following very closely, while 30% said somewhat closely.
- The survey found that Republicans are the least interested in the hearings, with 61% of voters who identified as “strong Republicans” saying they aren’t following the hearings closely. 77.3% of “strong Democrats” said they are following closely.
- 38.1% of voters said the hearings have been fair and impartial. 29.4% of voters said they have not been fair and impartial. 32.5% of voters just do not know.
Possible Trump criminal charges
- When asked if Donald Trump should be charged with a crime associated with January 6, 45.8% said he should be charged, while 39.5% said he should not be charged.
- 51% of Michigan voters said that Jan. 6 was a coup attempt on the American government. 45.8% of Independent voters agreed. 61% of voters above the age of 65 agreed.
- Voters who “lean Republican” disagreed with 66%, while “strong Republicans” disagreed with 71%.
Democracy under attack
- 78% of Michigan voters believe American democracy is under attack, but voters have different areas of blame.
- 29.6% of voters said Trump/ Republicans and the Right Wing
- 20.4% of voters said Biden/ Democrats and the Left Wing
- 18.3% of voters said our own politicians were attacking democracy.
Related: Poll: Where Michigan voters stand on abortion ruling, contraception, SCOTUS job approval
Methodology:
The Glengariff Group, Inc. conducted a Michigan statewide survey of November 2022 likely general election voters. The 600 sample, live operator telephone survey was conducted on July 5-8, 2022 and has a margin of error of +/-4.0% with a 95% level of confidence. 26.0% of respondents were contacted via landline telephone. 74.0% of respondents were contacted via cell phone telephone. This survey was commissioned by WDIV Local 4 News and the Detroit News.