PHOENIX — A survey suggests Gov. Doug Ducey made the right political decision in slapping at Nike and yanking a proffered $1 million subsidy to locate a new factory here — at least among members of his own Republican Party.
The survey Tuesday night by OH Predictive Insights found 77% of Republicans questioned said they supported the governor’s decision to withdraw the incentives.
By contrast, 67% of Democrats opposed Ducey’s action.
Among those who said they are independent and intend to vote in the next election, Ducey’s action was approved by a 52%-40% margin.
Overall, given the GOP registration edge in Arizona, that puts the total of 800 people questioned in the automated interactive voice response polling at 49% in favor and 43% against.
“What we saw are some very familiar fault lines in what Arizonans thought about the issue,” said Mike Noble, the organization’s chief of research.
In writing the question, Noble told those who were called that Nike’s decision to drop the new sneakers with the Betsy Ross flag — the one with 13 stars in a circle — was done “at the request of a professional athlete, Colin Kaepernick.”
That is as it was reported by the Wall Street Journal, which said Kaepernick complained that the flag, dating from the United States’ first days as a nation, has become a symbol of the slavery at that time.
Kaepernick is a former NFL star who gained widespread attention with his decision to “take a knee” during the national anthem as a protest against police treatment of blacks.
Nike, in its own statement, made no reference to Kaepernick, whom the company has featured in some commercials.
Instead, Nike said it made the decision not to unveil the $120 shoes as scheduled on July 4 “based on concerns that it could unintentionally offend and detract from the nation’s patriotic holiday.”
The survey has a potential margin of error of 3.5%.
