The latest Indy Politics Informal Ask  surveyis closed, and the results show a readership that remains largely Republican in its voting intentions while giving low marks to nearly every Republican currently holding statewide office — and that has little trust in the people reporting on any of it.

Before the results, the methodology and its limits.

Caveats:

  • The Informal Ask is an opt-in survey of Indy Politics readers. It is not a scientific poll. There is no random sample, no weighting and no margin of error, and the results should not be read as predictive of the November election.
  • Respondents were 92% white. Black respondents accounted for roughly 1% of the sample, compared with about 10% of the state’s population.
  • Nearly 70% of respondents were men.
  • Almost 44% reported household income above $150,000, and about two-thirds reported income above $100,000. Indiana’s median household income is substantially lower.
  • More than half of respondents were 55 or older. Respondents under 25 accounted for less than 1%.
  • Geographically, 70% live in central Indiana, 19% in northern Indiana and 11% in southern Indiana. Northwest Indiana alone accounted for under 3%, a share too small to support conclusions about that region.
  • Nearly all respondents said they are registered and plan to vote in November, indicating a sample drawn from the most politically engaged portion of the electorate.

Approval of statewide and federal officeholders

  • Gov. Mike Braun: 28% approve, 66% disapprove.
  • Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith: 16% approve, 81% disapprove, including 68% who strongly disapprove.
  • Attorney General Todd Rokita: 30% approve, 64% disapprove.
  • President Donald Trump: 37% approve, 60% disapprove.
  • U.S. Sen. Todd Young: 52% approve, 38% disapprove.

Young was the only official tested who drew net positive marks. Braun and Rokita both scored below Trump among the same respondents.

Party identification and vote intention

  • Roughly half of respondents identified as Republican, 23% as independent and 17% as Democrat.
  • Republicans led the generic congressional ballot by about 11 points, the state Senate ballot by 17 points and the Indiana House ballot by 16 points.
  • Asked about their own member of Congress, 37% approved and 50% disapproved.
  • State senators drew 45% approval and 33% disapproval. State representatives drew 46% and 32%. Local officials drew 43% and 34%.

Approval ratings generally rose as offices became more local, with the congressional delegation as the exception.

Secretary of State

  • Greg Ballard, running on the Lincoln Party line, drew 32%.
  • Republican Max Engling drew 26%.
  • Democrat Beau Bayh drew 22%.
  • Libertarian Lauri Shillings drew 2%. Sixteen percent were undecided.
  • Only 3% of respondents identified with the Lincoln Party.

The topline results do not identify the source of each candidate’s support. Crosstabs would be required to determine whether Ballard is drawing more heavily from Republican or Democratic voters.

Other statewide and county races

  • Treasurer: Daniel Elliot 47%, Coumba Kebe 19%, unsure 26%, skipping the race 9%.
  • Comptroller: Elise Nieshalla 52%, Jessica Bailey 20%, John Schick 10%, none of the candidates 18%.
  • In county races, 34% said they would vote for the candidate they believe is best for the job. About 45% said they would vote a straight or mostly Republican ticket, and 20% a straight or mostly Democratic ticket.

Property taxes

  • 58% said property taxes should not be eliminated. 29% said they should.
  • Asked what should replace property taxes, 48% said they do not believe the taxes should be eliminated at all.
  • Among those open to a replacement, 29% chose a sales tax and 6% chose an income tax.
  • 68% said food and medicine should be exempt from any expanded sales tax.

Flood response

  • 26% of respondents said they live in an area affected by the recent flooding.
  • On a 10-point scale, respondents rated the state’s response 5.3, their local government’s response 5.9 and their own community’s response 7.1.

Bears incentives and data centers

  • 60% opposed the state using incentives to bring the Chicago Bears to Northwest Indiana. As noted above, few respondents were from that region.
  • On data centers, 41% approved, 33% disapproved and 17% neither approved nor disapproved.

Political climate

  • 94% said politics has become toxic.
  • 92% said the political parties have become too polarized.
  • Asked which party has become too extreme, 44% said all of them, 30% said Democrats and 25% said Republicans.
  • 51% said they believe things will eventually get better, with the largest single group choosing “somewhat likely.”

Who they blame

Respondents were asked in their own words who is responsible for the toxic atmosphere. Answers were sorted into categories, and because many named more than one culprit, the figures total more than 100%.

  • Trump or the MAGA movement: 29%
  • The media: 28%
  • Democrats, liberals or the left: 19%
  • Both parties or the extremes of both: 16%
  • Republicans or the right generally: 16%
  • Social media and the internet: 13%
  • Politicians and the system, including term limits and gerrymandering: 11%
  • Voters themselves, or human nature: 8%
  • Money in politics: 5%

Counted together, 39% blamed the right in some form and 19% blamed the left. About 32% blamed the right without also blaming the left or citing “both sides,” compared with 12% who blamed the left alone. Roughly 4% named a specific Indiana figure, most often Beckwith or Rokita.

The written answers were less evenhanded than the multiple-choice question that preceded them. Asked to pick from a list, 44% said all the parties had gone extreme. Asked to write it out, only about one in six reached for “both sides.”

Trust in the media

Respondents were also asked in their own words whether they trust the media.

  • 42% gave a qualified answer — “depends on the source,” “some of it,” “trust but verify.”
  • 40% said no, flatly.
  • 18% said yes or mostly yes.

Among the qualified answers, three patterns recurred: trust in local outlets paired with distrust of national and cable news; trust in everything except Fox News, or in nothing but Fox News; and a described personal habit of verifying stories across multiple sources. A number of respondents objected to the question itself, arguing that “the media” is too broad a category to answer for.

Three questions in this wave were open-ended. Responses on who is to blame and on media trust are summarized above; ZIP code responses were used only to verify the regional breakdown.*

* A brief note on the editor. Two respondents, asked who is to blame for the toxic political atmosphere, named him. “Republicans,” one wrote. “But mostly Abdul.” He added that if Abdul became a Democrat, he’d be fine with the bullshit. Somewhat. The other blamed “hack writers like Abdul.”

Asked whether they trust the media, one respondent answered, “Yes, especially you.” Another answered, “No, except Abdul.” A third, on the Ohio border and stuck in the Cincinnati TV market, said his only access to Indiana news is the Capitol Chronicle and this outlet — though he spelled the name “Abduhl,” so nobody here is getting comfortable.

Blamed by two, trusted by three, spelled correctly by most. In this business, that’s a landslide.