News release Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu     www.selu.edu/news Contact: Rene Abadie, Christina Chapple Date: 11/12/02   The full text of the poll will be available online at www.selu.edu/news/US_Senate _Poll-Runoff.html. If you would like to receive the poll by fax or arrange an interview with Dr. Corbello, please give us a call. SLU POLL PROVIDES “SNAPSHOT” OF SENATE RUNOFF       HAMMOND -- Incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu is leading her Republican opponent Suzanne Haik Terrell as the pair begins a four-week run-off campaign for Landrieu’s U.S. Senate seat, according to a statewide poll of registered voters conducted by Southeastern Louisiana University.       Landrieu received 51.4 percent to Terrell’s 36.4 percent of the voters surveyed in the poll, conducted by Kurt Corbello, associate professor of political science, and the university’s Florida Parishes Social Science Research Center (FPSSRC). A total of 554 voters were randomly interviewed between Nov. 6-9 on the Senate race. The poll has a sampling error of plus or minus 4.2 percent.       Corbello said the sample of voters surveyed includes 390 voters initially interviewed by the FPSSRC before the Nov. 5 primary election.        Corbello said the poll provides “a look at the ‘lay of the land’ at the beginning of a four-week campaign that will be fluid.”       He said data gathered from voters indicate that Landrieu is holding onto voters from the primary election. “Among those who chose her in our primary election poll, almost 86 percent select Landrieu in the runoff,” Corbello said. “Terrell also holds onto most of the voters from the three major Republican candidates in the primary, receiving about 74 percent of the preference from voters who chose her, John Cooksey, and Tony Perkins. Still, Terrell loses almost 18 percent of these voters to Landrieu.”       Corbello said poll results indicate that turnout will be a key factor in the candidates’ success at the polls. “Terrell must pick up more of the vote from respondents who supported Cooksey and Perkins in the primary,” Corbello said. “Landrieu must turn out ‘her’ vote as well.”       He said that while Landrieu leads Terrell 54 percent to approximately 30 percent among non-chronic voters, she only leads by approximately 49 percent to Terrell’s 42 percent among “chronic” voters – those who voted in at least four of the last five statewide elections.       Corbello said analyses of the primary election results show that turnout among black voters was as much as 30 percent lower than that among white voters. Presenting a picture of possible outcomes if turnout among black voters is 10 percent, 20 percent or 30 percent lower than white voter turnout in the primary, Corbello said, “Landrieu’s lead diminishes with increasingly lower black turnout projections.”            According to poll results, “If black voters turnout at a rate 10 percent lower than white turnout, Landrieu leads Terrell by approximately 50 percent to 38 percent,” Corbello said. “At 20 percent lower black turnout, Landrieu leads Terrell by about 48 percent to 39 percent. Finally, if black voter turnout is 30 percent lower than white voter turnout, then Landrieu leads Terrell by only 47 percent to 41 percent.”        The poll eyed several demographic categories, including race, gender, party identification, education and income.       Corbello said 21 percent of the voters listed the economy as the most important problems facing the United States today, but security issues were also on voters’ minds. “The second, third, and fourth most important problem are terrorism (15.4 percent), war (11.4 percent), and homeland security (4.7 percent),” Corbello said. Return to News Releases