Trump leads Republican field and Clinton in West Virginia, according to new Orion Strategies statewide poll

CHARLESTON, W.Va., Aug. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- If the 2016 General Election were held today, 26 percent of West Virginians would vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton, while 58 percent would vote for an unspecified Republican candidate, according to a survey conducted by Orion Strategies, a strategic communications firm with offices in Charleston and Buckhannon.

Donald Trump holds a commanding lead among Republican presidential candidates, according to the Orion Strategies poll. Twenty-nine percent of respondents said they would vote for Trump, compared to eight percent for his closest challenger, Marco Rubio – who is statistically tied with Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson and Ted Cruz.  Still, a plurality of Republican and Independents are undecided.

Orion Strategies today released the first results of a new, wide-ranging statewide poll that measured voter attitudes toward next year's election and significant national issues – including questions about Obamacare, Planned Parenthood, the use of body cameras by police and the treaty with Iran.

"Every year or two, Orion Strategies compiles a list of all the questions we ourselves want to ask," said Curtis Wilkerson, president and CEO of Orion Strategies.  "We poll often, but almost all of the polling we do on a regular basis remains proprietary. So this is always a fun and enlightening project."

Orion Strategies also asked a number of questions regarding West Virginia-based state issues. The results of the state-oriented poll questions will be released tomorrow.

The live-interview telephone survey was conducted among historic, likely voters in West Virginia.   A total of 406 respondents completed the entire survey – giving the poll a 4.9 +/- margin of error with a 95 percent confidence rate.  The sample was proportionate to each of the three congressional districts in the state. All 55 counties were called, and results were collected from 54 of those counties.  Partisan registration among respondents was 52 percent Democratic, 34 percent Republican and 14 percent Independent.

Orion Strategies conducts polling and research surveys on behalf of various clients, including trade associations, law firms, universities, media outlets and political campaigns.  The firm also conducts surveys for change of venue requests on prominent court cases. Curtis Wilkerson, Principal of Orion Strategies, is a member of the American Association of Public Opinion Research.  Learn more about Orion Strategies at www.orion-strategies.com

Key Findings of the Survey

In the 2016 General Election for President, would you likely vote for a Democratic or Republican Candidate?

If in the 2016 General Election for President, your choices were Hillary Clinton and a Republican candidate, for whom would you vote?

If the 2016 Republican Presidential Primary in West Virginia were held today, for which candidate would you vote? (Republicans and Independents only)

If the 2016 Democratic Presidential Primary in West Virginia were held today, for which candidate would you vote? (Democrats and Independents only)

If in the 2016 General Election for President, your choices were Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, for whom would you vote?

Other key findings:

• 61% believe that things in West Virginia are not headed in the right direction
• 36% believe that Planned Parenthood should receive state and federal funding, while 54% do not
• 77% oppose paying college athletes salaries in addition to athletic scholarships, with 17% in support
• 91% of respondents support the use of body cameras by all law enforcement officers
• 63% believe that the death penalty should be reinstated while 23% are opposed and 13% undecided
• 19% believe Congress should ratify the current proposed treaty with Iran, with 62% against and 18% undecided
• 29% of respondents agree with the recent Supreme Court ruling upholding the ability for same sex couples to marry, while 66% were opposed

Respondents were asked two similar questions with altered names at very different points in the poll:

--Do you believe that Obamacare is effective in providing more healthcare to residents in West Virginia?

--Do you believe that the Affordable Care Act is effective in providing more healthcare to residents of West Virginia

In regards to United States President Barack Obama, how would you rate his job performance?

SOURCE Orion Strategies