Hawaii’s polling discrepancies hurt Hanabusa
This post was submitted by Jean Qiao, WCF Communications Fellow
The fear of a Republican victory in Hawaii’s first congressional district has led the DCCC into a fine frenzy of actions, including leaning its support towards Congressman Ed Case—therefore edging out State Senator Colleen Hanabusa. Their most recent action includes utilizing Hawaii’s unique polling difficulties to support Case.
The usual polling by phone that the mainland is used to just will not fly with a majority of the local residents in Hawaii’s first congressional district. In a district that is almost one-third Asian, pollsters may be missing a huge chunk of potential voters due to their lack of cultural sensitivity. In their article about Hawaii’s polling discrepancies, CQ Politics stated that the Japanese-American population, especially Japanese women, are extremely underrepresented in polling because many will either decline to answer or respond “undecided” when spoken to by somebody with a disembodied voice. It is believed that of the 15-20% of those who replied “undecided,” at least half favor Hanabusa.
CQ Politics’ article also stated, “One of the other real problems that mainland pollsters have here is pronunciation and not sounding local,” which turns voters away from answering their questions. As a first-generation Asian American myself, I know I probably would not respond to a robotic-sounding person on the phone who has just butchered my last name—my family name.
A poll conducted last week by mainland pollsters hired by the DCCC showed Case with 32% of support and Hanabusa with 27%. However, a local poll surveying over 11,000 residents of Honolulu showed Hanabusa leading with 35.8% and Case coming in second with 27.9% of the support. Should I be surprised that the poll commissioned by the DCCC came out in favor of the white male candidate?
Dear DCCC: The voters have spoken. Isn’t it time for you to face reality and let them decide?
Tags: colleen hanabusa, DCCC, ed case, hawaii 1st congressional district, hawaii primary, polling, Sexism in politics
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