Allen Says Poll Shows Public Wants To Vote On Hawks’ Stadium

Paul Allen on Monday kicked off his lobbying blitz for a new stadium for the Seattle Seahawks by releasing a poll he paid for that shows strong support for a public vote on a stadium financing plan.

However, if the Legislature agrees to hold a referendum on the financing package, the poll indicates far less support for the specific tax measures proposed to pay for the $402 million project.

Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, has agreed to buy the Seattle Seahawks if a new stadium is built on the site of the Kingdome. He spent $50,000 on the extensive public opinion survey that kicks off a lobbying blitz to persuade legislators to put the financing plan before voters. Lawmakers said such spending, virtually unprecedented during a legislative session, shows Allen’s seriousness. Whether it will actually sway legislators, they say, is another matter.

Hoping to bolster the survey’s credibility, Allen’s group chose two of the Northwest’s leading partisan pollsters: Republican Bob Moore of Portland and Don McDonough of Seattle, who represents Democratic clients. They contacted 1,175 registered voters statewide by telephone last week. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The poll indicates 89 percent of respondents want to vote on a stadium financing package.

Allen and Gov. Gary Locke favor paying for the new stadium through a package that includes a lottery game and a statewide 10-percent wholesale tax on sports-logo merchandise. The Legislature has been reluctant to put the package before voters, and Allen’s poll shows reluctance among voters to accept it.

When asked what they think of the plan, 48 percent said they were opposed, 45 percent in favor and the rest undecided.

When voters are told Allen has agreed to pay for more of the $402 million cost and lessen the public’s share, and given other information favorable to the plan, 54 percent say they are in favor, while 41 percent are opposed.