(The Center Square) – A new poll by the Beacon Center shows 54% of Tennessee Democratic respondents have a favorable view of socialism, while 31% held a negative view, according to results released Wednesday morning.
“As politicians like Zohran Mamdani and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gain national recognition as the future leaders of the Democratic Party, one of the most notable findings from the poll is the substantial support for socialism among Democratic voters in Tennessee,” Beacon’s Senior Fellow for Public Opinion Mark Cunningham said. “The favorability of socialism among Democrats is notable, and it will likely influence how Democratic candidates run to the left in contested primaries, but also could spell doom for the party in general elections if the public’s view on socialism stays the same.”
Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race Tuesday with more than 50% of the vote over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
The Beacon Poll of 1,200 Tennessee residents included 336 Democrats, according to information provided by Beacon Center.
Respondents had a favorable view of Gov. Bill Lee. Fifty-four percent said they approved of the governor, with 38% saying they didn’t approve of his performance.
Lee is term-limited and cannot run again. U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is the favored Republican candidate, garnering 58% of positive responses. U.S. Rep. John Rose received 9% of positive responses while state Rep. Monty Fritts, R-Kingston, received 5%.
The survey shows that 63% support President Donald Trump’s decision to send National Guard troops to Memphis, while 33% disapprove of the move. Republicans backed the deployment the most at 82% while 49% of Democrats opposed it.
The majority of those polled said they approved of the job Trump is doing, with 57% giving the president a thumbs up. Forty-one percent gave him a thumbs down, with 2% saying they had no opinion.
Republicans and Democrats agreed that political violence is a serious problem today, according to the poll. As to who is to blame, 38% said it is the left and right, but the left received most of the criticism at 32%. Eighteen percent of respondents placed political violence on the shoulders of the right.
Those surveyed also had a dim view of whether things would improve, with 64% saying they expected political violence to worsen. Just 11% said they thought it would get better.
