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Sooner Survey: Volume 35 No. 1 | March 29, 2023

By Pat McFerron, President
Cole Hargrave Snodgrass & Associate
@McFerron

       There are few issues that unite Oklahomans more than their belief that cockfighting should be illegal. Fully 87% say this practice should be illegal while only 8% oppose.

Every major group has at least eight-in-ten wanting cockfighting illegal, including 87% of registered Republicans and 90% of registered Democrats. Additionally, this is not the geographic battle some would lead Oklahomans to believe. While 88% of those in the two metro areas oppose this, we see 87% of those in the 71-rural counties having the same belief. Even in the southeast (86%) and southwest (80%) we have uber-majorities wanting cockfighting to be illegal. In fact, in each of the five congressional districts in Oklahoma, at least 83% want cockfighting to be illegal and in no instance does support for legality exceed 12%. 

       Not only do Oklahomans want cockfighting to be illegal, but they want it to be a felony. When asked about changing the penalty for participation to a misdemeanor, 71% oppose this change while less than a quarter support it. Most striking is that 62% say they “strongly oppose” this change and only 11% “strongly favor” it. It is seldom that we see this sort of intensity difference on issues getting serious consideration.

       In this world where almost every issue takes on a distinct partisan edge, that is not the case with cockfighting. Those on the left, including Democrats (73% oppose), Twitter users (75% oppose), and liberals (83% oppose) are joined by Republicans (70% oppose), those with an unfavorable impression of Joe Biden (68% oppose), evangelicals (76% oppose), and even self-described “very conservative voters” (68%) in opposing lessening the penalty on this activity. All of these groups have less than a quarter of their groups favoring making cockfighting a misdemeanor.

       Movement on this topic is minimal when adding in a county option on whether or not to make cockfighting a misdemeanor. Even in this situation, more than twice as many oppose (67%) as support (28%) and strong opposition remains very high (58%). More than twice as many Republicans oppose (64%) as support (31%), while Democrat opposition remains very high (21% favor / 75% oppose). The county option is high throughout the state, hitting 75% opposition in the rural northeast, 67% in the Tulsa metro, 68% in central Oklahoma and 64% in the rural southeast. The narrowest advantage for opponents is in the southwest where they still hold an 18-point advantage (38% favor / 56% oppose).

       In all three of the tested scenarios (legality, moving to a misdemeanor, county option on a misdemeanor), every age and income group has at least 60% opposed. Striking is how united upper-income voters are on this issue. Among the 13% of Oklahoma voters in households earning more than $150,000 a year, 91% think cockfighting should be illegal, 73% oppose changing the penalty to a misdemeanor, and 73% oppose allowing a county option. In addition, the intensity is high with more than half saying their positions in opposition to be “strong”. This means that any political figure could likely use stopping the expansion of cockfighting as a strong fundraising tool.

       In analyzing polling issues in Oklahoma since 1990, I have seen only a handful of issues where I see similar numbers to what I see on cockfighting. Not only are the overall numbers against lessening the penalty on cockfighting strong, but voters also say it will affect their votes. Fully 77% of voters say they are at least inclined to vote against anyone advocating for a lower criminal classification for cockfighting while only 11% say they would vote for such a candidate.

       What sets cockfighting apart from other litmus test types of issues like abortion, guns, or taxes, is that this issue is in no way balanced. There really is only one side. While you will have significant numbers of voters on both sides of the abortion debate, that is not the case with cockfighting, yet it still has the same intensity. When asked about a legislator’s view on cockfighting, 57% say it will determine their vote: 5% say they will definitely vote FOR a candidate who wants to make it a misdemeanor while 52% saying they will definitely vote against that candidate.

   In conclusion, any candidate for office that toys with the idea of permitting cockfighting to occur without the risk of a felony is at odds with voters. While the sample size does not allow for looking at individual seats, I would be hard-pressed to believe that any legislative seat in the state had even a plurality of voters supporting a reversal of the 2002 state question that Oklahoma voters passed. ◊