Orlando attorney John Morgan continues bankrolling the effort to include a ballot initiative that would potentially raise the state minimum wage through his group Florida for a Fair Wage, and Sunshine State residents say they approve of the cause, according to St. Pete Polls.
In fact, the poll found that 58 percent of respondents support amending the state Constitution to include a $15 an hour minimum wage hike, while only 35 percent of respondents oppose the idea and 7 percent remain unsure. Better yet, the percentage of respondents who support the potential constitutional amendment is near the required 60 percent of voters needed for an amendment to pass on the ballot.
The support, however, varied according to partisan lines. Fifty-five percent of Republican respondents said they don't support it, with only 39 percent saying they would support such an amendment. Among those on the opposite side of the political spectrum, 76 percent of Democratic voters were in favor of the wage hike, with less than 18 percent saying they weren't in support of the proposal. Meanwhile, meeting in the middle, 60 percent of independent voters said they would support the measure, while 38 percent would not.
In predictable fashion, older generations said they were less in favor than their younger counterparts. While 54 percent of voters age 70 and older said they would support such an amendment, with 38 percent saying they would not, by comparison, nearly 60 percent of voters ages 30 to 69 say they would support it, and 58 percent of voters age 18 to 29 claimed they would as well.
The responses also varied according to race. More than 83 percent of African American respondents say they would support a minimum wage increase, and 64 percent of Hispanic voters said they would as well. However, only 52 percent of white voters and 54 percent of Asian American voters claimed they would support the measure. In other words, it seems as though the "fight for $15" is far from over.
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