(The Center Square) – Nevadans across the board are worried about a rise in political violence and don’t trust their elected officials to deal with it, according to a new poll.
The survey was conducted by Phoenix-based Noble Predictive Insights.
“ In our current political climate between the two major parties, things are incredibly polarized, probably the most polarized we’ve seen in decades,” said Mike Noble, founder and CEO of Noble Predictive Insights.
“However, this is one of those rare issues where Republicans, Democrats, independents all agree that they are concerned over political violence in Nevada,” Noble told The Center Square. “It’s like a widespread fear.”
Of the 766 people in Nevada surveyed between Oct. 7-13, more than four in five reported some concern of political violence in Nevada. Twenty-eight percent of Democrats and Republicans said they were very worried about political violence in the state. The poll has a margin of error of minus or plus 3.54%.
The poll was conducted one month after one of the highest profile political shootings in recent years. In neighboring state Utah on Sept. 10, politically conservative commentator and Arizona resident Charlie Kirk was publicly assassinated at Utah Valley University.
The Noble Predictive Insights poll noted Nevadans do not place a high level of trust in their elected officials in the event of political violence. Thirty-one percent of those surveyed do not trust their Republican leaders to use responsible language to talk about political violence, and 23% feel the same way about Democratic leaders. Less than half of either party earned a “Trust somewhat” or better score, with Republican leaders’ net distrust nine points higher.
“The data really highlights how language has become a flashpoint in American politics, and voters know rhetoric matters,” Noble told The Center Square. “They feel leaders aren’t setting the right examples – at least very few are.”
An overwhelming 83% of polled Nevadans said extreme political speech at least somewhat increased the risk of political violence. While half of the polled individuals said protecting free speech was necessary even if it is divisive, 33% said limitations were reasonable to curb violence. Most likely to support speech support limitations were university-educated, high income earners and Trump-first Republicans.
Noble said the combination of mistrust and fear among voters could be a recipe for civic disaster.
“If this continues, you could see voters becoming disengaged, less specific participation, and more of the electorate tuning out,” said Noble. “I think it’s incumbent upon people running for office or in office that they should need to address this issue if they want to continue to have a game to play, which is politics.”
