Poll: Kentucky GOP puts Willkie before Dewey
Key state in 1944 campaign to split solid South is surveyed
By George Gallup, Director, American Institute of Public Opinion
Last month’s Republican victories in Kentucky bring up the question as to how GOP voters in that border state feel about Presidential candidates for 1944.
Kentucky will send 22 delegates to the GOP convention and, with the party hoping to split up the solid South, their judgment will carry considerable weight.
A survey of the state shows that, so far as the rank and file of Kentucky Republican voters are concerned, Wendell L. Willkie is the top choice today for President, with Governor Dewey of New York a fairly close second.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur stands third in the survey, with Senator Taft of Ohio close behind him. Senator Taft does better in Kentucky than his fellow Ohioan and avowed presidential candidate, Governor Bricker.
The results follow:
Interviewing Date 11/25 – 12/1/43 Survey #307-K Question #6cKentucky Republicans were asked: Which one of the following would you like to see nominated for President by the Republican Party next year?
| Willkie | 31% |
| Dewey | 26% |
| MacArthur | 20% |
| Taft | 13% |
| Bricker | 8% |
| Warren | 1% |
| Stassen | 1% |
| Others | <1% |
Surveys in the past have found that Republicans voters throughout the whole South are more partial to Willkie than to any other Republican.