The 14-17 April 2019 Mark Penn poll reveals that most eligible voters in the Dominican Republic are not partisan to any political party. To the question: “Are you partisan to a political party or an independent?”, 59% of voters answered independent, 23% favor the PLD and 13% the PRM, 2% the PRD and 1% the PRSC.
The most pressing problems in the Dominican Republic identified by the poll are crime (32%), unemployment (17%), corruption (13%), and cost of living (10%).
The poll was released on Wednesday, 1 May 2019. It was carried out with 1,007 persons eligible to vote polled from 14 to 17 April 2019. The margin of error is +/- 3%.
The Mark Penn April 2019 poll indicates that so far no politician has enough support to win in a first-round vote. This includes President Danilo Medina of the ruling PLD party, who by constitutional mandate is banned from running. The poll revealed he has a 41% intention of vote backing. If former President Leonel Fernández were chosen as the ruling PLD candidate, he would receive 38% of the voter intention. This compares to 33% of PRM leading pre-candidate Luis Abinader. The Mark Penn poll confirms earlier findings by Asisa Research poll that none of the candidates has enough voter backing to win in a first round.
The April poll indicates that 30% of voters would like President Medina to be the ruling party candidate in the 2020 presidential election; 24% say they would prefer Leonel Fernández, and 23% would like to see Vice President Margarita Cedeño be chosen. Among those that say they are members or followers of the PLD, 43% prefer Danilo Medina; 38% prefer Leonel Fernández and 15% prefer Margarita Cedeño.
The poll shows 47% of PRM voters favor a return of Luis Abinader as the PRM candidate. This compares to 76% of PLD voters who favor President Medina being the party’s candidate.
To the question: “Who do you think should be the PLD candidate?”, 30% responded President Danilo Medina, 24% responded former President Leonel Fernandez, and 23% responded Vice President Cedeño.
According to the April 2019 Mark Penn poll, 77% of eligible voters believe President Medina will move his political forces to amend the Constitution in order to run for reelection. Only 16% said he will not give it a try, and 8% said they do not have an opinion. The ruling PLD party has a majority in Congress and technically has enough votes. But the party is divided among those who back President Danilo Medina and those who back former President Leonel Fernandez, who is the president of the PLD. Fernandez was President during the terms 1996-2000, 2004-2008 and 2008-2012.
Vice President Margarita Cedeño (PLD), who happens to be the wife of former President Leonel Fernández, leads in popularity ranking when positive and negative ratings are considered. The poll indicates she scored 54 points in favor and 41 against, followed by opposition Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) pre-candidate Luis Abinader with 51 points in favor and 40 unfavorable; and President Danilo Medina (PLD), with 51 positive points and 46 unfavorable. Those polled were asked to grade as favorable and unfavorable 15 leading politicians, on a scale of one to four.
To the question, “If the presidential election were today and the candidates were Danilo Medina for the PLD, Luis Abinader for the PRM, Miguel Vargas for the PRD, Ito Bisonó for the PRSC, Guillermo Moreno for Alianza Pais and Minou Tavarez for Opción Democrática, who would you vote for?”, the answers were: Medina (41%), Abinader (30%), Vargas and Moreno (5%), Tavarez and Bisonó (3%.).
If the presidential candidate were Leonel Fernandez for the PLD, the vote would be Fernández (38%), Abinader (33%).
The Mark Penn poll asked about the possibility of Fernández running for the PLD and former President Hipólito Mejía running for the PRM. The results were Fernández receiving 40% to 21% of Mejía. Both candidates are eligible for running in the 2020 general election.
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6 May 2019