[313] Tennesseans still want wine sold in groceries

Tennesseans still want wine sold in groceries

Opinion has been stable and decidedly in favor of wine sales for four years

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Tennesseans who want wine sold in grocery and convenience stores outnumber those opposed by more than 2 to 1, the latest MTSU Poll results show.

Consistent with the results of previous polling, when asked “… do you favor or oppose letting grocery, convenience and other stores that sell food in Tennessee sell wine if they are located in places that allow the sale of alcoholic beverages?”, 65 percent of Tennesseans say that they are in favor, with only 24 percent opposed; the remainder say they don’t know or refuse to answer.

Furthermore, majorities of Democrats and Republicans, evangelical Christians and non-evangelicals, and the young and the old all favor allowing wine sales in groceries, convenience stores, and other stores that sell food.

“Previous analyses have indicated important differences in support for wine sales in groceries attributable to generational, religious, and political differences,” said Dr. Jason Reineke, associate director of the poll at Middle Tennessee State University. “But support really seems to have spread across the board at this point.”

The overall 2013 findings do not differ statistically from responses to the same question when asked by the MTSU Poll in spring of 2011 (69 percent favored wine sales, 17 percent opposed), or spring of 2009 (62 percent favored wine sales, 26 percent opposed).

“Overall opinion on this issue has been largely in favor of wine sales in groceries for the last four years. It has also been remarkably stable over that time considering the amount of legislative maneuvering around the issue and the associated coverage it has received in the media,” Reineke said.

Poll data were collected from Feb. 11-19 via telephone interviews of 650 Tennessee adults conducted by Issues and Answers Network Inc. using balanced, random samples of Tennessee landline and cell phones. The data were weighted to match the latest available Census estimates of gender and race proportions in Tennessee.