ICYMI: WV Press: “New Polling Shows Support For Filibuster Reform"

TODAY in Intelligencer, Wheeling News-Register, Weirton Daily Times, and other Ogden Group papers across West Virginia

Fix Our Senate Spokesperson Eli Zupnick: “When the filibuster has clearly been abused and is broken, [Sen. Manchin] has the opportunity to fix it and to bring it in line with his vision for the Senate.”

WEST VIRGINIA — In case you missed it, a new story by Steven Allen Adams published in Ogden Newspapers, a local group of West Virginia media outlets, features new polling commissioned by Fix Our Senate. The poll highlighted that many West Virginia voters have yet to form a strong opinion on filibuster reform and that the more these voters learn about the filibuster, the more they support reform.

Read the filibuster poll memo here.

Read the Ogden polling story here.

Key quotes from Fix Our Senate Spokesperson Eli Zupnick featured in the polling article include:

“Even if you support the filibuster as something that had promoted compromise in the past, if that was your position, it is clearly no longer doing that.”

“People in West Virginia are looking at the status quo, and they’re seeing more bills are being filibustered and there’s less bipartisanship.”

“The filibuster is not really high on West Virginia minds. People in West Virginia, like people in most states around the country, care about the things that impact them. They care about COVID relief. They care about the economy and jobs and getting checks to help them through this crisis. They’re not concerned about process.”

“It was great to see that West Virginians, like many people across the country, want their senators to do what’s right.”

“If the circumstances change, then the position should change. They are not looking for Sen. Manchin to just never change at all. When the filibuster has clearly been abused and is broken, he has the opportunity to fix it and to bring it in line with his vision for the Senate.”

Key poll findings include:

• Moderate voters, a pivotal bloc in the state, are initially split 31% support filibuster reform; 37% oppose reform; and 33% admit they don’t know enough to offer an opinion.
• Only 28% of West Virginia voters initially know that Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has publicly spoken out against eliminating the filibuster
• When asked whether the filibuster does more to create gridlock or bipartisan compromise: 43% say gridlock and 35% say bipartisan compromise (22% don’t know)
• West Virginia voters strongly support a variety of proposals to reform or eliminate the filibuster, including:
• By a 59-18% margin, support for “restoring the filibuster to what it was historically, with senators only being able to block an up or down vote if they are speaking on the floor”
• By a 50-30% margin, support for “bringing back the ‘talking filibuster,’ which would require senators who want to filibuster to actually stay on the Senate floor talking continuously”
• By a 49-33% margin, support for “eliminating the filibuster for certain, important legislation such as legislation to protect election security and the right to vote”
• 45% of West Virginia voters prefer an argument in favor of filibuster reform, arguing that it is a partisan weapon used to block real progress, while 36% prefer the argument that without the filibuster, narrow majorities could push through big changes without bipartisan compromise
• By a 66-29% margin, West Virginia voters prefer “that my senator does what is right for West Virginia, even if that means their position changes over time” instead of “that my senator maintains a consistent position on the filibuster.”

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