CAMPAIGN ’96 : THE TIMES POLL: Profile of the New Hampshire Republican Primary Electorate

This exit poll by The Times profiles various groups of Republican primary voters. Different portions of Tuesday’s electorate helped some candidates while hurting others. For example, Patrick J. Buchanan performed best among conservatives. Lamar Alexander won over liberals and moderates, and Bob Dole drew evenly from both groups.

Each column shows the percentage of voters in each group who voted for:

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% of all Republican primary voters who are: Buchanan Dole Alexander Forbes SEX 58% Male 29% 27% 21% 13% 42% Female 26% 24% 26% 12% AGE 7% 18-24 25% 20% 32% 12% 6% 25-29 26% 19% 32% 11% 33% 30-44 26% 21% 28% 14% 32% 45-64 29% 26% 22% 12% 22% 65 or over 32% 36% 13% 10% EDUCATION 22% High school graduate 40% 17% 20% 14% or less 23% Some college 32% 26% 21% 13% 34% College graduate 23% 29% 25% 11% 21% Post-graduate 18% 29% 26% 13% IDEOLOGY 52% Liberal/Moderate 16% 26% 30% 14% 48% Conservative 41% 26% 15% 11% PARTY IDENTIFICATION 34% Independents and others 24% 16% 29% 15% 66% Republican 30% 31% 20% 11% INCOME 9% Less than $20,000 45% 14% 16% 15% 28% $20,000 to under $40,000 32% 24% 21% 12% 28% $40,000 to under $60,000 30% 27% 24% 8% 35% $60,000 or more 20% 28% 27% 15% RELIGION 52% Protestant 25% 29% 22% 12% 33% Catholic 36% 23% 20% 11% 9% No religion 18% 19% 33% 19% WILL THE CANDIDATE YOU VOTED FOR TODAY BECOME THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE? 69% Yes 32% 36% 22% 8% 31% No 18% 7% 27% 20% WHICH OF THESE APPLY TO YOU? (check all that apply) 72% Homeowner 28% 27% 23% 12% 71% Married 29% 26% 23% 12% 20% Unmarried 27% 23% 23% 13% 21% Self-employed 26% 26% 21% 14% or business owner 10% Born-again or 53% 14% 13% 5% evangelical Christian 14% Listen to radio talk 35% 22% 18% 15% shows more than 10 hours per week 8% Support Ross Perot 32% 13% 27% 19% 25% Gun owner 30% 26% 22% 13% 2% None of the above 30% 24% 16% 14% THINGS IN THE NATION: 31% Are going in 14% 34% 28% 12% the right direction 69% Have gotten off 34% 21% 21% 13% on the wrong track FINANCES NOW VS. FOUR YEARS AGO: 25% Better off 21% 27% 26% 14% 31% Worse off 36% 22% 19% 12% 44% About the same 26% 29% 23% 12% DO YOU EXPECT THE NEXT GENERATION WILL HAVE 17% A better 25% 32% 19% 15% standard of living 48% A worse 32% 20% 23% 13% standard of living 35% About the same 22% 31% 25% 11%

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Notes: Percentages may not add up to 100% because results for some candidates and voter groups are not shown.

Source: Los Angeles Times Exit Poll conducted Feb. 20

HOW THE POLL WAS CONDUCTED: The Los Angeles Times Poll interviewed 2,415 voters who cast ballots in the New Hampshire Republican primary as they exited 60 polling places across the state. Unaffiliated voters can re-register to vote on primary day. Precincts were chosen based on the pattern of turnout in past primary elections. The survey was a self-administered, confidential questionnaire. The margin of sampling error for Republican primary voters is plus or minus 3 percentage points. For some subgroups the error margin may be somewhat higher. Fieldwork for this survey was conducted by Blum & Weprin Inc.