Internal poll shows voter support for Buckhead cityhood down
By Patricia Murphy, Greg Bluestein, Tia Mitchell - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A new poll from the Committee for a United Atlanta that shows support for the Buckhead cityhood effort down significantly in the neighborhood since Mayor Andre Dickens took office earlier this month.
The poll of 400 Buckhead registered voters was conducted by North Star Research and Whit Ayres, a well-known GOP pollster, from Jan. 16-19, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.
It shows Buckhead voters now oppose splitting away from Atlanta 51 percent to 40 percent. That’s a reversal from a North Star poll in June that showed Buckhead residents supporting a split 48 percent to 44 percent.
Ayres said two specific dynamics in the poll are notable.
First among them is voters’ top concern of crime, which 57 percent said is the most important issue facing the city in an open-ended question. The next most important issue for voters was police and public safety, which 5% of respondents ranked as their primary concern.
“I have rarely seen in many decades of asking this sort of question one issue so thoroughly dominate the political landscape as crime does,” Ayres said. “In this survey, it’s just overwhelming.”
Ayres’ second major takeaway in the poll is Mayor Andre Dickens’ approval rating in the Buckhead neighborhood, which is 50 percent favorable, compared to 14 percent unfavorable. That’s a major change from Dickens’ June rating of 7 percent favorable, 6 percent unfavorable, with 69 percent of voters not knowing who Dickens was.
“In this current climate, that’s incredibly positive,” he said.