New COURIER/Data for Progress Poll Shows Americans Across All 50 States Oppose Increasing Efforts to Ban Books from Schools

NEW YORK, NY – March 4, 2022 – New York, NY — New polling data released today from Courier Newsroom and Data for Progress shows the growing efforts in Republican-led state houses to ban books from public schools is deeply unpopular with voters.

STATE HIGHLIGHTS FROM ARIZONA, IOWA, AND MICHIGAN:

ARIZONA: 75% of Arizonans believe banning books from public schools is un-American. Yet, Arizona Republicans trying to ban schools from using books that include sex acts. Three in four Arizona voters oppose such bans and believe it’s censorship.

IOWA: 77% of Iowans oppose book banning efforts — agreeing with the premise that book banning is a “form of censorship and goes against American values of freedom of speech and expression.” Yet, Iowa Republicans have pushed an effort to ban schools from teaching material from the 1619 Project, a collection of essays on slavery, race, and the origins of America created by Iowa-born author Nikole Hannah-Jones. Three in four Iowa voters oppose lawmakers banning books in schools and believe it’s censorship.

MICHIGAN: 78% of Michiganders agree with the idea that banning books in public schools is un-American. Still, Michigan Republicans want to pass bills schools from teaching material that could be considered “anti-American” or “racist,” including the 1619 Project, a collection of essays on slavery, race, and the origins of America. Nearly four in five Michiganders oppose such efforts and believe it’s censorship.

Data for Progress estimates opinion at the state level using a machine learning model trained on nationally representative survey responses linked to a commercial voter file. The model accounts for over 400 variables, including individual demographic characteristics, vote history, and primary participation as well as the political and demographic characteristics.

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