December 3, 2019

TO: Interested Parties

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FROM: Hans Kaiser, Moore Information Group

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RE: South Dakota Voters and Congressman Dusty Johnson

Results of our recent survey in South Dakota show voters holding a very positive impression
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of Congressman Dusty Johnson. In fact, 49% of all voters have a favorable image of the
Congressman while just 15% view him unfavorably. Johnson is viewed favorably by
Republicans, Democrats and Independents but, as might be expected, his best numbers are
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with voters in his own party and with conservative voters.

Today 58% of all Republicans say they have a favorable view of him while only 13% view him
unfavorably and among Conservatives 58% view him favorably and just 13% view him
unfavorably. Nonetheless, these positive numbers among voters of all political stripes is
impressive at a time of intense partisanship nationally and when voter’s impressions
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oftentimes appear to be based more on party lapels than anything else. Johnson’s numbers,
while very strong with his base are also solid with other voters in South Dakota, no small feat
in the current political climate.
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Dusty Johnson Image

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Favorable
80% Unfavorable
No opinion/never heard of
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58% 59%
60%
49%
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40% 36%
29% 28%
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20% 15% 13% 13%

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0%
All voters Republicans Conservatives

In addition, Johnson’s numbers are strong with those voters who approve of the job Donald
Trump is doing. Among those who approve of the President’s job performance we find
Johnson holding a favorable rating of 56% while just 12% of those Trump approvers have an
unfavorable view of the Congressman.

Moore Information Group 1

Johnson’s numbers are strong in both the Sioux Falls (49% favorable/15% unfavorable) and
Rapid City (52% favorable/15% unfavorable) media markets. And we find little difference
between men and women overall.

Dusty Johnson Image – Key Subgroups

Net No opinion/
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Favorable Unfavorable favorable never heard of

All voters 49% 15% +34% 36%

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Trump job performance

Approve 56% 12% +44% 32%

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Disapprove 41% 19% +22% 40%

TV Market

Sioux Falls 49% 15% +34% 36%

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Rapid City 52% 15% +37% 33%

Importantly, while just 15% of all South Dakotans view the Congressmen unfavorably, there
is little intensity on those negative impressions. In fact, only 5% of all South Dakotans say
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they have a “very” unfavorable view of Dusty Johnson. Across all demographic groups there
is only one where Johnson’s “very” unfavorable rating reaches double digits and that is with
self-described Liberals where his “very” unfavorable rating is just 10%.
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Among Republicans we see a wide gap between those who are strongly favorable (25% “very”
favorable) toward Johnson and the few who are strongly unfavorable (5% “very”
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unfavorable), a solid 5:1 ratio of “very” favorable to “very” unfavorable opinions.

Finally, there are 36% of South Dakotans who did not have an opinion or have not heard of
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Dusty Johnson at this point. Those voters are more likely than not to approve of the
President’s job performance, are more likely to be Republican than Democrat and a plurality
consider themselves Conservative, all groups with whom Johnson currently enjoys strong
numbers and indicative of an opportunity to increase an already very positive image.
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Methodology
The results in this memo are from a Moore Information Group telephone survey conducted
October 16-19, 2019. A total of 500 telephone interviews were conducted among a
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representative sample of voters statewide in South Dakota. Interviews were conducted using
live interviewers and included landline and cell phones. The sampling error is plus or minus
4% at the 95% confidence level
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Moore Information Group 2