“Some of the best work I think we did was bringing the voter’s voice to the grand conversation — not so grand all the time — but making sure they have a seat at the table.”
Longtime pollster Stuart Elway is ending the Elway Poll after 33 years, closing Washington’s only continuous statewide public-opinion survey.With no other independent poll regularly tracking voter attitudes, trend lines or long-term mood, Elway says Washington is losing its last stable measure of what residents think amid rising nationalization, misinformation and shrinking local news coverage.
The shutdown caps a 50-year career that began in Olympia political circles, included early work for Gov. Dan Evans and later saw Elway lead The Seattle Times Washington Poll. Launched in 1992, the Elway Poll was considered among the nation’s top pollsters.
Over three decades, Elway fielded 257 surveys, interviewed 106,000 citizens, asked 7,000 questions, and surveyed 6,300 local officials and 2,000 lobbyists. His most enduring contribution may be four recurring questions about expectations for the coming year.
This July, they reached historic lows: “For only the second time in the poll’s history, respondents anticipated things will be worse in all four areas,” he said. Household optimism fell to 41%, far below the long-term average of 70%. That sour mood extends to state leaders. Gov. Bob Ferguson is 21 points underwater, and the Legislature polls similarly poorly as voters focus on taxes, affordability and the economy.