Vanderbilt Poll: Tennessee lawmakers out of touch on issues yet enjoy popularity boost

Tennessee legislators remain out of step with state voters over gun safety, the legalization of marijuana and women’s reproductive health care, yet enjoy a bump in approval, according to the results of a recent Vanderbilt Poll. 

The poll surveyed 955 registered voters statewide from Nov. 18 to Dec. 4.

The survey found an approximate six to seven percent boost for state lawmakers: 53% of respondents approved of the job state lawmakers are doing, a seven percent increase from the May poll, while Gov. Bill Lee’s approval rating similarly moved from 54% to 60%. U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who was overwhelmingly reelected in November for a second term, found her approval rating jump from 46% to 53% and Sen. Bill Hagerty’s rose to 46% from 40%. 

Vanderbilt Poll Co-Director Josh Clinton, a political science professor, said the increased ratings were likely “an afterglow of the election.” 

Yet across party lines, voters expressed support for the legalization of recreational marijuana, with 53% Republicans supporting such a move and 78% of Democrats. This comes as Tennessee’s Department of Agriculture is moving to ban the sale of recreational hemp products that are in the same family as marijuana but have been legal since 2019.

Four gun reform measures were tested, each of which polled strongly despite partisan affiliation. A whopping 86% of respondents said they support laws that would require gun owners to report if their weapons were stolen are missing — including 74% who identified as supporters of President-elect Donald Trump. 

When asked about passage of a so-called red flag law, which would temporarily restrict gun access for those deemed to be at risk of harming themselves or others, 78% indicated they are in favor. 

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Support for health care also garnered bipartisan support, with 73% supporting the expansion of Medicaid in Tennessee, a measure state lawmakers have consistently resisted since 2012. 

According to the Tennessee Justice Center, Tennessee loses about $1.4 billion in federal funds annually by declining to expand the program, which provides coverage to children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with disabilities. 

Tennessee has a near total abortion ban but the percentage of Tennesseans who say they support women’s right to obtain the procedure has climbed from 37% in 2012 — the first time the Vanderbilt Poll measured on the question — to 53% in the recent survey. 

“While much ink has been spilled about what the election results mean about the electorate, these results suggest little change in the opinions of Tennesseans, which means the misalignment between voters and elected officials continues,” said John Geer, co-director of the Vanderbilt Poll, senior advisor to Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, professor of political science and holder of a Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair.

In other findings: 

• Tennesseans are almost equally split on the question of whether the state is on the right track or wrong track, with 50% agreeing with the former and 46%  with the latter. 
• There has been almost no change in the percentage of poll respondents who describe themselves as conservative or very conservative, rising from 47% in 2015 to 48% almost a decade later. 
• Deportation of immigrants, particularly those with criminal records, is popular. Across all demographics and party affiliation, 84% of those polled support the deportation of undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. 

The full poll can be accessed here.