Mason-Dixon

Mississippi Poll
October, 2015

HOOD HOLDS SLIGHT LEAD OVER HURST

Attorney General Jim Hood, one of the few remaining statewide elected officials in
the South still affiliated as a Democrat, holds a slight over his Republican challenger
Mike Hurst. Statewide, 50% of Mississippi voters currently support Hood, while 44%
back Hurst and 6% remain undecided. In April, Hood led 55%-40%.

Hood has managed to continue to win re-election in Mississippi as a Democrat by
relatively large margins because he is widely viewed as conservative. But as the
state continues to become more strongly Republican and statewide GOP candidates
in other races are winning about 60% of the vote, he now faces his toughest
challenge. His cross-over vote does not appear to be as strong as in his earlier races.

Still, Hood leads primarily because of strong support from black voters (93%) and a
double-digit lead among women (53%-41%). But Hurst is tied with him among all
men and leads by 66%-27% among white men.

Hood is still the favorite, but if black voter turnout falls off and undecided white
voters continue to break for Hurst, this could be a very close finish.

QUESTION: If the 2015 general election for Mississippi attorney general

were held today would you vote for:




Jim Hood Democrat




Mike Hurst Republican

STATE


SEX


Men

Women


RACE


White

Black


PARTY ID

Democrat
Republican
Independent

HOOD HURST UNDECIDED

50% 44% 6%
HOOD HURST UNDECIDED
48% 47% 5%
53% 41% 6%
HOOD HURST UNDECIDED
32% 61% 7%
93% 3% 4%
HOOD HURST UNDECIDED
87% 5% 8%
22% 72% 6%
53% 41% 6%

 HOW THE POLL WAS CONDUCTED

This poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc. of Jacksonville,
Florida from October 21 through October 23, 2015. A total of 625 registered
Mississippi voters were interviewed statewide by telephone. All stated they were
likely to vote in the November general election.

Those interviewed on land-lines were selected by the random variation of the last
four digits of telephone numbers. A cross-section of exchanges was utilized in order
to ensure an accurate reflection of the state. Those interviewed on cell phones were
selected from a list of working cell phone numbers. Quotas were assigned to reflect
voter registration by county.

The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no
more than 4 percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability
that the "true" figure would fall within that range if all voters were surveyed. The
margin for error is higher for any subgroup, such as a gender or racial grouping.

DEMOGRAPHICS

PARTY REGISTRATION:




Democrat

218 (35%)



Republican

304 (49%)



Independent or Other 103 (16%)


AGE:
18-34

83 (13%)


35-49

180 (29%)


50-64

200 (32%)


65+

161 (26%)


Refused

1

RACE/ETHNICITY:




White/Caucasian
422 (68%)



Black/African American 187 (30%)



Other/Refused
16 (2%)


SEX:
Male


301 (48%)



Female

324 (52%)


REGION:
1st Congressional District
152 (24%)



2nd Congressional District
144 (23%)



3rd Congressional District
162 (26%)



4th Congressional District
167 (27%)