Kansas Health Institute | Information For Policy Makers. Health for Kansans.

TOPEKA — Results of a statewide poll released today show that 77 percent of Kansas voters support the new state law that prohibits smoking in most public places.

Glen Bolger, co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies, a leading Republican polling firm based in Alexandria, Va., said support for the law crosses partisan and ideological lines.

He said 85 percent of Democrats favor the law, as do 77 percent of Republicans and 69 percent of independents. Also, 65 percent of voters who hold a favorable view of the Tea Party movement support the law, he said, along with 54 percent of smokers.

“When you look as these data, it’s clear that Kansans like this (law),” he said.

Voters against repeal

The survey, conducted last month, also revealed that 59 percent of voters would be less likely to support officeholders or candidates who want to repeal the law, which after several failed attempts was finally passed last session and became effective July 1, 2010. Of those, 41 percent said they would be “much less likely” to vote for a candidate who supported repeal.

“That is a very significant number in polling,” Bolger said. “It shows that people would be motivated to action on this.”

And that motivation crosses party lines.

“Both Republicans and Democrats by significant numbers say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supports repeal,” Bolger said.

But only 47 percent of independent voters said they would be less likely to support a candidate who favored repeal.

The poll was paid for by a coalition that includes several organizations that lobbied for the law and have supported other anti-tobacco initiatives, including efforts to raise taxes on tobacco products. Its members include: the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Sunflower Foundation, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Clean Air Kansas, Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition and the Wichita Medical Research Education Foundation.

Supporters of the law are preparing to fight an anticipated effort to repeal it by some conservatives who have said decisions about smoking restrictions should be left to local government.

So far, no repeal bill has surfaced. But one of the law’s strongest opponents, Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, is pushing for the repeal of a section of the smoke-free law that exempts state-owned casinos.

Supporters of the smoking ban reluctantly agreed to that exemption to win the votes of a handful of legislators who represent districts where casinos are planned. Some see Landwehr’s bill as an attempt to divide supporters and repeal the law. But Landwehr has argued that if secondhand smoke is a health hazard in bars, restaurants and other public spaces, it poses the same risk to casino patrons.

Other survey findings

• 85 percent say that smoke-free work environments are important to them.

• 84 percent of Kansas voters see secondhand smoke as a health hazard.

• 75 percent say that employees’ and customers’ rights to clean air trumps the rights of smokers and business owners.

• 71 percent say restaurants and bars are healthier now that they’re smoke free.

• 60 percent say that going to restaurants and bars is more enjoyable since the smoking ban.

The survey of 500 likely voters was conducted Jan. 11 and 12. It has a margin of error of +/- 4.38 percentage points.