GOP HAS LEAD IN COUNTY; SURVEY INDICATES ZONING ISSUE TRAILS

Republican candidates in the races for president, governor, U.S. Senate and state Senate should carry Cape Girardeau County, according to a Southeast Missourian survey of county voters.

In addition to these races, voters indicated an overwhelming preference to reject county zoning and approve term limits. The statewide riverboat gambling issue appears to be a toss-up in the county.

These races and issues will be decided in Tuesday's election.

The survey was conducted Wednesday night by Southeast Missouri State University students under the direction of Peter Gordon, professor of marketing at the university. The Southeast Missourian commissioned the survey.

Gordon pointed that 150 interviews were completed with self-reported registered voters in Cape Girardeau County. The maximum error rate of the survey is 8 percent, with a 95 percent confidence.

President

President Bush got the support of 41.3 percent of the respondents, while Democratic challenger Bill Clinton received 33.3 percent. Independent candidate Ross Perot got 4.7 percent, and 20 percent remained undecided.

Governor

Attorney General Bill Webster leads Lt. Gov. Mel Carnahan 39.3 percent to 30 percent in their race for governor. More than 30 percent of those responding indicated they were undecided in this race.

Gordon pointed out that the numbers indicated a trend of female respondents tending to favor Webster, while males tended to favor Carnahan.

U.S. Senate

U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond leads Democratic challenger Geri Rothman-Serot 49 percent to 22 percent in their race. Almost 30 percent said those interviewed indicated they were undecided.

27th District Missouri Senate

Peter Kinder had a lead of 39.3 percent to 31.3 percent over Democrat Betty Hearnes. Those undecided total 29.4 percent.

The candidates are contending for the Senate seat now held by John Dennis, D-Benton.

County Zoning

Responding to the question of county zoning, 38.7 percent said they would vote "no" on the issue, while 24.7 percent indicated support. However, 36.7 percent of those interviewed said they were still undecided.

Riverboat Gambling

This issue had the least number of voters saying they were undecided: 14.7 percent. In support of the issue were 44 percent of respondents, while 41.3 percent were opposed.

Gordon pointed out that, with the rate of error, this difference is not statistically significant.

Term Limits

There are actually two ballot questions in Missouri concerning term limits, dealing with both federal and states lawmakers. The single question asked in this survey was meant to gauge the mood on this issue. The mood was overwhelmingly in favor of the limits: 65.3 percent of respondents said "yes," while 18 percent said no. Just more than 16 percent were undecided.

A random sample was developed by using names from the 1992 Southwestern Bell telephone directory.