Jurisdiction Responsible for Handling Crimes of Members of the Texas Legislature (June 2015)

Jurisdiction Responsible for Handling Crimes of Members of the Texas Legislature (June 2015)

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    Respondents were asked, "If members of the Texas Legislature are formally accused of committing a crime related to their public duties, should the case be handled..."

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categorycolumn-1
In Austin, by the Travis County District Attorney.47%
In the county in which they reside, by the local District Attorney.36%
Don't know/No opinion17%
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    Respondents were asked, "If members of the Texas Legislature are formally accused of committing a crime related to their public duties, should the case be handled..." Measurement of Party ID for this figure is based on two questions. First, respondents were asked whether they consider themselves to be a Democrats, Republicans, independents, other, or not sure. Those who responded that they are independents or "other" were then asked if they lean toward either the Democrats or Republicans. If they indicated that they lean toward one party or the other, they are considered Democrats or Republicans for the purposes of this figure. Only "pure" independents or members of a third party who indicate that they have no preference for Democrats vis-a-vis Republicans are considered independents. Respondents who answered that they are "not sure" for either of the two aforementioned questions are not incorporated into this figure.
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categoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
In Austin, by the Travis County District Attorney.58%39%40%
In the county in which they reside, by the local District Attorney.24%32%46%
Don't know/No opinion18%29%14%
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    Respondents were asked, "If members of the Texas Legislature are formally accused of committing a crime related to their public duties, should the case be handled..." Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
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categoryLean RepublicanNot very strong RepublicanStrong Republican
In Austin, by the Travis County District Attorney.39%42%41%
In the county in which they reside, by the local District Attorney.48%40%48%
Don't know/No opinion13%18%11%
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    Respondents were asked, "If members of the Texas Legislature are formally accused of committing a crime related to their public duties, should the case be handled..." Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
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categoryLean DemocratNot very strong DemocratStrong Democrat
In Austin, by the Travis County District Attorney.64%52%58%
In the county in which they reside, by the local District Attorney.22%24%25%
Don't know/No opinion15%24%17%
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    Respondents were asked, "If members of the Texas Legislature are formally accused of committing a crime related to their public duties, should the case be handled..." Ideology is measured on a scale of 1-7, with 1 corresponding to "extremely liberal", 7 corresponding to "extremely conservative, and 4 corresponding to "in the middle." For the purposes of this table, respondents who placed themselves at or between points 1 and 3 on the scale are considered "liberal," respondents who placed themselves at point 4 on the scale are considered "moderate," and respondents who placed themselves at or between points 5 and 7 on the scale are considered conservative.
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categoryLiberalsModeratesConservatives
In Austin, by the Travis County District Attorney.66%41%42%
In the county in which they reside, by the local District Attorney.19%32%46%
Don't know/No opinion15%27%12%
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    Respondents were asked, "If members of the Texas Legislature are formally accused of committing a crime related to their public duties, should the case be handled..." The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
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categoryLeaning conservativeSomewhat conservativeExtremely conservative
In Austin, by the Travis County District Attorney.48%45%32%
In the county in which they reside, by the local District Attorney.39%43%58%
Don't know/No opinion13%12%10%
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    Respondents were asked, "If members of the Texas Legislature are formally accused of committing a crime related to their public duties, should the case be handled..." The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: "On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?" The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.
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categoryLeaning liberalSomewhat liberalExtremely liberal
In Austin, by the Travis County District Attorney.60%68%70%
In the county in which they reside, by the local District Attorney.20%18%17%
Don't know/No opinion19%14%13%
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    Respondents were asked, "If members of the Texas Legislature are formally accused of committing a crime related to their public duties, should the case be handled..." Tea Party identification is based on the following question, also asked in the survey: "Suppose the Tea Party movement organized itself as a political party. When thinking about the next election for Congress, would you vote for the Republican candidate from your district, the Democratic candidate from your district, or the Tea Party candidate from your district?" Those who responded "Republican candidate" are considered Republicans (non-Tea Party movement) and those who responded "Tea Party candidate" are considered Tea Party Republicans.
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categoryDemocratRepublicanTea Party
In Austin, by the Travis County District Attorney.60%48%33%
In the county in which they reside, by the local District Attorney.26%42%53%
Don't know/No opinion14%10%15%
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    Respondents were asked, "If members of the Texas Legislature are formally accused of committing a crime related to their public duties, should the case be handled..." Race is calculated according to the race variable.
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categoryWhiteBlackHispanic
In Austin, by the Travis County District Attorney.47%42%48%
In the county in which they reside, by the local District Attorney.38%35%30%
Don't know/No opinion15%23%22%
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    Respondents were asked, "If members of the Texas Legislature are formally accused of committing a crime related to their public duties, should the case be handled..." Gender is calculated according to the GENDER variable.
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categoryMaleFemale
In Austin, by the Travis County District Attorney.46%47%
In the county in which they reside, by the local District Attorney.40%32%
Don't know/No opinion14%21%
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    Respondents were asked, "If members of the Texas Legislature are formally accused of committing a crime related to their public duties, should the case be handled..." Community is based on the following question, "Would you say that you live in an urban, suburban, or rural community?"
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categoryUrbanSuburbanRural
In Austin, by the Travis County District Attorney.45%48%44%
In the county in which they reside, by the local District Attorney.36%36%36%
Don't know/No opinion18%16%19%
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    Respondents were asked, "If members of the Texas Legislature are formally accused of committing a crime related to their public duties, should the case be handled..." Age is calculated according to the AGEG variable.
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category18-2930-4445-6465+
In Austin, by the Travis County District Attorney.45%49%48%43%
In the county in which they reside, by the local District Attorney.37%27%37%42%
Don't know/No opinion18%23%15%15%
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    Respondents were asked, "If members of the Texas Legislature are formally accused of committing a crime related to their public duties, should the case be handled..." Education is calculated according to the EDUC variable.
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categoryNo high schoolHigh school graduateSome college2-year4-yearPost-grad
In Austin, by the Travis County District Attorney.42%44%47%46%46%54%
In the county in which they reside, by the local District Attorney.45%33%34%35%41%35%
Don't know/No opinion14%23%18%19%12%10%

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