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A new poll published by the UT San Antonio Center for Public Opinion Research (CPOR) found that only 40% of likely voters in Bexar County support using the county venue tax to fund a portion of a new San Antonio Spurs arena.
The poll found that 46% of likely voters are opposed to Proposition B, a November 4 ballot item that would send up to $311 million to the Spurs for a new arena by raising taxes on hotel stays and rental cars.
Bryan Gervais is a political science professor and the director of CPOR. He said the results are consistent with previous polls CPOR has conducted going back to the beginning of this year.
“No matter what we ask about, and you know, and how we word the questions, it’s kind of a consistent story across this,” Gervais said. “Voters, you know, aren't overwhelmingly supporting Project Marvel and its various elements in one direction or the other.”
CPOR polled 660 likely Bexar County voters between Oct. 1 and Oct. 3 and had a margin of error of 3.8%.
The latest poll was the first to include the specific ballot language Bexar County voters will see for Propositions A and B. It also included a separate question about general support for Project Marvel overall, which has slightly more support than county venue tax funding for the Spurs arena.
Prop A would send a smaller piece of the venue tax increase to expand the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo Grounds, redevelop the Frost Bank Center after the Spurs leave, and renovate the Freeman Coliseum.
That proposition also failed to earn majority support in the poll, with only 44% in favor.
Gervais said he was surprised that the major effort the Spurs have undertaken with signage, mailers, and billboards across the city in support of both props hadn’t moved the needle more in their direction.
“A little surprised, right?” he said. “Because, if anything, we should see Prop B sort of running ahead of Prop A and Project Marvel overall. And if anything, it's the opposite.”
Gervais emphasized that support for local propositions like these is often very fluid. And there’s still three weeks until Election Day.
But he said despite the Spurs’ obvious resource advantage, the fact that they’re having to compete makes it more difficult for them to overcome the current public sentiment.
“It's not just, you know, a one-sided situation here where only one group is getting out their message,” Gervais said. “We got another group pushing back as well.”
Poll respondents who said they were either very liberal or very conservative supported using the venue tax for the arena the least, and Gervais said there was no standard partisan or ideological position that could be relied on to project someone’s support.
Around 15% of respondents said they still weren’t sure how they would vote on either Prop A or B, enough to shift to majority support for either if most of those voters decide to support them.
Early voting for the props, as well as state constitutional amendments and other local elections, begins on Oct. 20 and ends on Oct. 31.
Election Day is Nov. 4.
