Likely voters cite price gouging as the top reason for high gas prices; no impact of third party involvement in races. 05/16/06
OKLAHOMA CITY – Even though Oklahoma is an energy-producing state, likely voters cite oil company price gouging as the top reason for high gas prices, according to a new poll released today.
SoonerPoll.com, a public opinion research firm in Oklahoma City, conducted the telephone poll of 800 5th Congressional district likely Republican and Democratic voters May 1-4 for News9 (KWTV) in Oklahoma City. The margin of error was 3.5%.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents felt that high gas prices were creating a hardship on their household, as gas prices in Oklahoma have steadily risen in recent months. Yet, when asked for their thoughts on why gas prices have gone up, respondents differed much more.
Oil company price gouging led with 39% of respondents, followed by global market factors (18%), and political instability in oil-producing countries (15%). Another 18% were nearly spilt over either the President's energy policies (9.4%) or Congress' energy policies (8.8%) as the reason for high gas prices.
"While the price of gas is really set by the futures market, I was amazed to find that a plurality of voters living in an oil-producing state cite oil company price gouging as the top reason," said Bill Shapard, SoonerPoll's CEO. "Political rhetoric is showing some influence on these numbers."
Democrat respondents were more likely to point to oil company price gouging (44%) as were Republicans (33%), yet both selected price gouging as their top reason for high gas prices.
Republican respondents were roughly twice as likely than Democrats to blame Congress than the President, while Democrats just the opposite.
