April 13, 2012 09:42 PM UTC

PPP: 62% of Coloradans Favor Civil Unions Legislation

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: FOX 31’s Eli Stokols:

The sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, and House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, who co-sponsored last year’s bill, have been working to find a Republican to sponsor the bill in the House.

Thus far, they’ve been unable to find a Republican to carry the bill, as Rep. Kevin Priola, R-Henderson, who supports civil unions, has yet to be swayed to sign on.

Interestingly, the divide on the issue of civil unions is generational, with voters under 30 supporting gay marriage by a 77-23 margin.

“That should be a real warning sign to the GOP that continuing to tack right on this issue is going to significantly hurt its ability to appeal both to the next generation of voters and to swing voters who are somewhere between moderate and liberal on social issues,” Public Policy Polling concluded.

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Posted today from Public Policy Polling:

Colorado voters strongly support a bill in the legislature that would create civil unions for same sex couples in the state. 62% favor the proposal to only 32% who are opposed. Democrats (83/13) and independents (75/19) are pretty unanimously supportive, as are a third of Republicans (31/61).

A majority of Coloradans are actually willing to take it a step further and just legalize gay marriage. 53% of voters in the state think gay marriage should be legal to only 40% who believe it should be illegal.

There are two things in the crosstabs on gay marriage that really stand out. Voters under 30 think gay marriage should be legal by a 77/23 margin, and independents support it by a 61/32 spread as well. That should be a real warning sign to the GOP that continuing to tack right on this issue is going to significantly hurt its ability to appeal both to the next generation of voters and to swing voters who are somewhere between moderate and liberal on social issues.

We already see Colorado shading bluer and bluer at the Presidential level and this is one of the issues where Republicans seem to be stuck behind while the electorate is moving forward. [Pols emphasis]

Other results announced by PPP today include Gov. John Hickenlooper at 57% approval, tied with Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman for most popular in their recent polling. Curiously, within that popularity only 23% of Coloradans would like to see Hickenlooper run for President in 2016. Sen. Mark Udall appears to have an edge in overall favorability (40% favorable vs. 37% unfavorable) over junior Sen. Michael Bennet (33-38%) with neither up for re-election this cycle. Sen. Udall, as most of you know, is next up for re-election in 2014.

Also interesting is a strong generic-ballot preference for Democrats in the state legislature (sorry, Frank McNulty), and an evident willingness to support President Barack Obama (see PPP’s earlier poll) even as they remain ambivalent at best about “Obamacare.”

Read the full memo here.