The majority of Pensacola voters would like Mayor Ashton Hayward to appeal Judge Roger Vinson’s ruling that the Bayview Cross was unconstitutional and needed to be removed from city property.
On June 26, the Inweekly and Political Matrix conducted a study regarding the ruling.
We asked: What do you think Mayor Ashton Hayward should do regarding the federal judge’s ruling that the cross is unconstitutional and must be removed?â€
After surveying 488 likely Pensacola voters we found that only 15.4% wanted the cross removed.
Additionally, we found that 42.8% wanted the Mayor to appeal the decision and 33.4% thought the Mayor should lease the property to a separate non-profit to preserve the cross.
Less than nine percent either needed more information (5.3%) or had no opinion (3.1%).
This study was conducted via Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology. The numbers used were supplied by the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office. Only households who voted at least 3 out of the last 4 elections were called in this survey. The number were randomized upon implementation of the study and 488 completed studies were collected.
The study consisted of 1 questions (excluding gender and race) were asked of the respondents. The margin of error of this study was +/- 4%.
|  1. What do you think Mayor Ashton Hayward should do regarding the federal judge’s ruling that the cross is unconstitutional and must be removed? | ||
| Responses: 488 | Total |
Overall %Â |
| 1. Remove the cross |
75 |
15.4% |
| 2. Appeal the ruling |
209 |
42.8% |
| 3. Lease the property to a non profit entity to preserve the cross |
163 |
33.4% |
| 4. Need more information |
26 |
5.3% |
| 5. No opinion or undecided |
15 |
3.1% |
| By City Districts | |||
| District 1, Responses: 76Â | Total | Crosstab % | Overall % |
| 1. Remove the cross | 14 | 18.4% | 2.9% |
| 2. Appeal the ruling | 29 | 38.2% | 5.9% |
| 3. Lease the property | 25 | 32.9% | 5.1% |
| 4. Need more information | 5 | 6.6% | 1.0% |
| 5. No opinion or undecided | 3 | 3.9% | 0.6% |
| District 2, Responses: 58Â | |||
| 1. Remove the cross | 9 | 15.5% | 1.8% |
| 2. Appeal the ruling | 30 | 51.7% | 6.1% |
| 3. Lease the property | 16 | 27.6% | 3.3% |
| 4. Need more information | 2 | 3.4% | 0.4% |
| 5. No opinion or undecided | 1 | 1.7% | 0.2% |
| District 3, Responses: 92Â | |||
| 1. Remove the cross | 13 | 14.1% | 2.7% |
| 2. Appeal the ruling | 32 | 34.8% | 6.6% |
| 3. Lease the property | 44 | 47.8% | 9.0% |
| 4. Need more information | 3 | 3.3% | 0.6% |
| 5. No opinion or undecided | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| District 4, Responses: 83 | |||
| 1. Remove the cross | 11 | 13.3% | 2.3% |
| 2. Appeal the ruling | 32 | 38.6% | 6.6% |
| 3. Lease the property | 33 | 39.8% | 6.8% |
| 4. Need more information | 5 | 6.0% | 1.0% |
| 5. No opinion or undecided | 2 | 2.4% | 0.4% |
| District 5, Responses: 65Â | |||
| 1. Remove the cross | 11 | 16.9% | 2.3% |
| 2. Appeal the ruling | 32 | 49.2% | 6.6% |
| 3. Lease the property | 18 | 27.7% | 3.7% |
| 4. Need more information | 3 | 4.6% | 0.6% |
| 5. No opinion or undecided | 1 | 1.5% | 0.2% |
| District 6, Responses: 68Â | |||
| 1. Remove the cross | 10 | 14.7% | 2.0% |
| 2. Appeal the ruling | 33 | 48.5% | 6.8% |
| 3. Lease the property | 15 | 22.1% | 3.1% |
| 4. Need more information | 4 | 5.9% | 0.8% |
| 5. No opinion or undecided | 6 | 8.8% | 1.2% |
| District 7, Responses: 46Â | |||
| 1. Remove the cross | 7 | 15.2% | 1.4% |
| 2. Appeal the ruling | 21 | 45.7% | 4.3% |
| 3. Lease the property | 12 | 26.1% | 2.5% |
| 4. Need more information | 4 | 8.7% | 0.8% |
| 5. No opinion or undecided | 2 | 4.3% | 0.4% |