South Dakota: You like Republican Congressman Dusty Johnson. You really, really like him.
How do I know this? Because that’s what at least one survey says about the freshman Congressman’s impression on South Dakotans. I managed to get a copy of a memo from Moore Information Group on a survey conducted in South Dakota this past October from a Moore Information Group telephone survey of 500 South Dakotans including both landline and cell phones – via a live interview method.
SD Poll Results Dusty Johnson Oct2019 by Pat Powers on Scribd
The Dusty Johnson love-fest gets even more intense when you start drilling down past South Dakotans and get among his fellow Republicans.
The poll notes “Today 58% of all Republicans say they have a favorable view of him while only 13% view him unfavorably and among Conservatives 58% view him favorably and just 13% view him unfavorably. Nonetheless, these positive numbers among voters of all political stripes is impressive at a time of intense partisanship nationally” – giving Johnson a fairly significant approval rating of +45% in his own party.
Excluding those who don’t have an opinion, for Republicans who express an opinion of liking or disliking Dusty… that’s around 81-82% who like him. And that can’t be good news for any potential GOP challengers who think they might be able to make any headway.
In fact, in looking at possible opponent Neal Tapio, who has been making some noise about taking on Dusty Johnson, with Neal trying to use his past affiliation for the Trump campaign against Dusty, the news gets even worse.
Among those voters who approve of Trumps job performance, Dusty’s net approval is +44%. Only one percent off of his net approval among Republicans overall. The difference between Trump supporters who love Dusty and Republican supporters who love Dusty is within the margin of error for the poll.
If Neal thinks he can find Republican Trump supporters who don’t like Dusty to support a challenger campaign, he might be in for a tough go of it. Because while there might be a couple chirping on Facebook, at least according to this poll, they’re statistically non-existent in South Dakota.
As the poll notes, “Johnson’s numbers, while very strong with his base are also solid with other voters in South Dakota, no small feat in the current political climate.” And that spells trouble for anyone thinking they’re going to challenge him.
It’s just a snapshot in time, but those seeking to challenge Dusty for the Congressional seat from either within the GOP or outside of it should pay great heed. Because they have a tremendous amount of distance to make up, and South Dakota has some big love for the man in the orange tie.
+34 net approval?
Freshman ND Senator Kevin Cramer is considered popular and is in a Republican state. I think I saw he was at +18. Chuck Grassley is +2.
+34 is really good.
About the same popularity as Neal Tapio I suppose. Tapio is a big deal.
No big surprise. He’s a great congressman.
So over a 1/3 of voters in the State don’t know/have heard of him? Boy, there are a lot of people totally disengaged apparently. But they probably know who won the latest Masked Singer and who Madonna is currently sleeping with.
Actually, I think the final of the Masked Singer is this week.
Dusty is really strong. Works hard in the district. Votes his conscience – usually with Trump, occasionally against. I think that’s the way most South Dakotans want it.
I had a chance to speak with Congressman Johnson on Friday evening. Very impressive guy. He’s done a great job supporting agriculture, bolstering the military, and fighting for the new trade deals. Relentless energy, vigorous optimism. I’m not claiming he’s perfect but he’s got my vote in 2020.
Dusty is a workhorse. That is key to his popularity.
I sense this poll came out because the Tapio rumors are heating up some. Tapio is nuts. He is not a hard worker when it comes to campaigning.
I do question how soft some of Dusty’s support is. I wouldn’t consider Dusty as a likely loser to a very flawed Tapio. But I think Tapio’s goals should be to take 35%-45% of the primary voters. That is a win for him and his trump base.
Petitions are Jan 1.
Tapio is either all talk or he will run.
I’d like to see some polls on the meth campaign and the governor.
Tapio get his concrete bill figured out? Maybe he should run for congress so he could put the screws to that flatwork contractor he got sideways with. I mean whats the point of running for public office if you can’t use your own influence for personal gain. Just think how may people would know him then, he wouldn’t have to name drop Ravnsborg.
Lol! He knows people and is personal friends with the AG.
AG changes phone number.
I find this poll to be strange. 36% dont have an opinion or haven’t heard of him? Really?
That’s a sizable number. It makes me question the legitimacy of this poll. And that 36% is more likely to be pro trump and conservative? I think that group is pretty well informed.
Not saying they aren’t 100% for DJ just that it’s odd not to know they have no opinion.
It’s not strange. Check the Morning Consult poll of all 100 Senators.
80 of them have a “no opinion” percent of 20% or higher.
Almost 40 have a “no opinion” percent of 25% or higher.
Some have a “no opinion” percent of more than 35%.
Former Presidential candidates Kamala Harris, Rand Paul, And Michael Bennett are all over 20% “no opinion.”
Dusty’s numbers aren’t unusual, especial for a House member, especially for a freshman.
Good post. Dusty’s +34% is massive. Although political junkies are loathe to admit it, 25% of our SD neighbors do not give a fig for politics. They might have an opinion on DJT but otherwise they don’t know and don’t care. They cannot name a singe USSC justice. They’ve never heard of Dusty Johnson or Boris Johnson. They don’t care about politics. More Americans know Tony Bennett or even Martellus Bennett than Michael Bennett. Even though Michelle Obama has never held elective office, I’m shocked she isn’t the Democrat frontrunner given that 70 percent of democratic voters know her name. That’s huge. Guess she’ll be nominated for Veep?
What I think is impressive is his <20% unfavorable with the disapprove of Trump electorate.
According to this poll, every Trump supporter has completely forgotten Dusty’s first order of business in Washington, DC – throwing President Trump under the bus.
Isn’t this the fourth or fifth poll Dusty Johnson has released in the last 6 months? Seems weird for a campaign to be releasing another poll about how great he is, and how much people love him.
I’m waiting for his new television spots based on this poll.
Hi. I’m Stuart Smalley, ehrr, Dusty Smalley, errhh, Stuart Johnson, ahh, Smalley Johnson, umm,
Hi, I’m Dusty Johnson, and gosh darn it, people like me.
Guess we found the 13% that disapprove — that’s ok I’d guess “Gosh darn it Dusty Johnson” is still more popular than every state wide elected official at the moment, probably with the exception of Thune. Why not brag? Isn’t that politics?