CCES Guide 2018

Guide to the 2018 Cooperative Congressional Election Survey
Data Release No. 21
Stephen Ansolabehere, PI
Harvard University
Brian Schaffner, co-PI

Tufts University
Sam Luks, co-PI

YouGov
August 2019
The 2018 Cooperative Congressional Election Study was supported by the

National Science Foundation Award # 1756447.
1
Data Release 1 occurred on March 19, 2019, and corresponds to the 2018 CCES Common Content.
Data Release 2 occurred on August 28, 2019 and corresponds to the 2018 CCES Common Content with vote
validation appended.
1
Contents
Acknowledgments 3
Referencing the Study 5
Part I 6
Introduction 6
State Sample Sizes 8
Part II 10
Sampling Methodology 10
Sampling and Sample Matching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Theoretical Background for Sample Matching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Sampling Frame and Matching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Weighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Using Weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Accuracy of the CCES Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
A Warning about Analyzing Subsamples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Breakdown of National Vote for U.S. House (CCES validated voters) . . . . . . . 17
Part III 18
Common Content 18
Sample Identifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Pre-election . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Post-election . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Vote Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Part IV 103
Contextual Variables 103
Pre-Election Survey Contextual Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Post-Election Survey Contextual Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
2
Acknowledgments
This project is the collaborative effort of 60 research teams and organizations. Individual
teams had their own principal investigators and research groups and designed their own team
surveys. The teams and their Principal Investigators are:
Table 1: Teams and Principal Investigators
Team Principal Investigator

Arizona State University Kim Fridkin
Brigham Young University 1 Chris Karpowitz
Brigham Young University 2 Jeremy Pope
Columbia University Viviana Rivera-Burgos
Dartmoutn College Mia Costa
Duke University 1 Alexandra Cooper
Duke University 2 Kyle Endres
Florida State University Brad Gomez
Fordham University Ivelisse Cuevas-Molina
George Washington University John Sides
Harvard University (2 modules) Steve Ansolabehere
Indiana University Ted Carmines
Louisiana State University Nathan Kalmoe
Michigan State University Nazita Lajevardi
MIT Charles Stewart
New York University Pat Egan
Notre Dame Jeff Harden
Reed College Paul Gronke
Rutgers University Rick Lau
Rutgers University Katie McCabe
St. Louis University Steven Rogers
Syracuse University Shana Gadarian
Texas Tech University Kevin Banda
Tufts University Brian Schaffner
UC Irvine Ines Levin
UC Merced Alex Theodoridis
UC Riverside Dan Biggers
UC San Diego Gary Jacobson
UCLA 1 Christopher Ojeda
UCLA 2 Mark Petersen
UNC Charlotte Cherie Maestas
University of Chicago Matthew Fowler
University of Colorado Jenny Wolak
University of Delaware Phil Jones
Continued on next page
3
Table 1 – continued from previous page
Team Principal Investigator
University of Delaware, SUNY Stony Brook Erin Cassese
University of Georgia Keith Poole
University of Houston Justin Kirkland
University of Maryland Balt. Cnty/UC Riverside Tyson King-Meadows/Linda Trautman
University of Massachusetts Amehrst (2 modules) Tatishe Nteta
University of Massachusetts Boston Travis Johnston
University of Miami Joseph Uscinsk
University of Minnesota Joanne Miller
University of Minnesota, Duluth/Wesleyan Geoff Sheagley/Logan Dancey
University of Mississippi Conor Dowling
University of Missouri Jeff Milyo
University of Missouri 2 Jake Haselswerdt
University of Missouri St. Louis Adriano Udani
University of North Texas Harold Clarke
University of Pennsylvania Michael Horowitz
University of Texas Daron Shaw
University of Texas David Leal
University of Virginia Nick Winter
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Kathy Dolan
Washington University St. Louis Andrew Reeves
Yale University (2 modules) Patrick Tucker
Stephen Ansolabehere, Brian Schaffner and Sam Luks served as Principal Investigators, and
Armelle Bernard at Harvard served as the Project Administrator. All teams contributed to
the Common Content; Stephen Ansolabehere and Brian Schaffner coordinated the develop-
ment of the Common Content questionnaire. Doug Rivers at YouGov provided general guid-
ance for the sample design. Special thanks to Marissa Shih of YouGov, who served as project
manager for the CCES. Thanks also to Rebecca Phillips, Jason Cowden, Ruohnan Hu,
Robert Iwamiya, Lina Zou, and Zach Zussman-Dobbins for their work organizing, prepar-
ing, and processing the surveys. Finally, thanks to Shiro Kuriwaki, Arjun Vishwanath, and
Margaret Schwenzfeier for their work in preparing this guide.
The Institute for Quantitative Study of the Social Sciences and the Dean of the Faculty of
Arts and Sciences at Harvard provided essential research support for this project, as did each
of the universities and research organizations sponsoring a team.
4
Referencing the Study
For research that uses the Common Content, the reference follows the ICPSR protocol:
Ansolabehere, Stephen, Brian F. Schaffner, and Sam Luks, COOPERATIVE
CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION STUDY, 2018: COMMON CONTENT. [Com-
puter File] Release 2: August 28, 2019. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
[producer] http://cces.gov.harvard.edu
As individual teams use their datasets for publication and make their datasets available,
referencing the team content will follow the same protocol:
[Name of Team Principal Investigator], COOPERATIVE CONGRESSIONAL
ELECTION STUDY, 2018: [TEAM NAME] CONTENT. [Computer File] Re-
lease: [Date]. [Location of Team]. [producer] http://cces.gov.harvard.edu
5
Part I
Introduction
The Cooperative Congressional Election Study, or CCES, seeks to study how Americans view
Congress and hold their representatives accountable during elections, how they voted and
their electoral experiences, and how their behavior and experiences vary with political geog-
raphy and social context. This study constructed a very large sample capable of capturing
variation across a wide variety of legislative constituencies. In fact, the state-level samples
are sufficiently large as to measure with a reasonable degree of precision the distribution of
voters’ preferences within most states.
The 2018 CCES involved 60 teams, yielding a Common Content sample of 60,000 cases.
The subjects for this study were recruited during the fall of 2018. Each research team
purchased a 1,000 person national sample survey, conducted by YouGov of Redwood City,
CA. Interviews for the 2018 survey were conducted in two waves. The pre-election wave of
the questionnaire was in the field from September 27 to November 5; the post-election wave
was in the field from November 7 to December 3. For each survey of 1,000 persons, half of the
questionnaire was developed and controlled entirely by each individual research team, and
half of the questionnaire is devoted to Common Content. The Common Content consists of
the questions common to all team modules and has a sample size equal to the total sample
size of all team modules combined. Each of the 60 teams purchased 1,000 person surveys. All
cases were selected through the Internet and YouGov constructed matched random samples
for this study.
Data Release 1 occurred on March 19, 2019. Data for this study is archived and avail-
able at the Harvard University Dataverse. Data Release 2 includes vote validation for all
respondents.
The 2018 CCES is part of an on-going study. The Cooperative Congressional Election Study
formed in 2006 to study congressional elections and representation using very large scale
national surveys, building off of the 2005 MIT Public Opinion Research and Training Lab
(PORTL) study. The CCES has been conducted in every year since 2006 and has received
support from the National Science Foundation for all even-year surveys from 2010 onward.
A cumulative dataset that accumulates all responses from 2006 can be found on the Harvard
University Dataverse as well.
This guide describes the methodology behind the overall study and the measures and vari-
ables developed for the Common Content of the 2018 study. There are five parts to the 2018
CCES Common Content – sample identifiers (including state and congressional district),
profile questions (largely demographic), pre-election questions, post-election questions, and
contextual data (including candidate names and parties, election results, and roll call votes).
This codebook provides question wordings, values, and frequencies presented of the vari-
ables for the 2016 Common Content dataset. Each Team Module has its own dataset and
codebook, which will be posted to the Dataverse by July, 2020.
6
The criteria for inclusion of a question in the Common Content were three-fold. First, what
questions would naturally be of interest to scholars researching Congress, representation, and
elections? Items such as approval of Congress, approval of the individual Senator or House
Member, Partisanship, Ideology, views on the economy and war, and voting behavior, as well
as demographic characteristics of voters fall into this category. Second, what questions did a
large number of teams want to include in the study? For example, a number of research teams
expressed interests in studying roll call voting behavior of members of Congress. Another
cluster of teams wanted a more extensive battery of questions on religion, which led the CCES
to expand beyond the usual questions asked by the ANES. Third, what phenomena can only
be measured with a large survey? The very large sample for the Common Content provides
the opportunity to study legislative constituencies – states and congressional districts – as
well as voters within those constituencies, to study very rare or low frequency events or
very small populations, and to measure with fairly high accuracy interactions. An example
of content included in the common for this reason is the battery of questions on problems
encountered when voting. Such problems occur at the frequency of about 2 or 3 percent, are
enough to present voting rights issues, but too small to be measured in standard surveys.
7
State Sample Sizes
Table 2: State Sample Sizes
State FIPS Cases

Alabama 1 932
Alaska 2 97
Arizona 4 1,588
Arkansas 5 521
California 6 5,284
Colorado 8 1,006
Connecticut 9 661
Delaware 10 215
District of Columbia 11 127
Florida 12 4,411
Georgia 13 1,925
Hawaii 15 208
Idaho 16 343
Illinois 17 2,419
Indiana 18 1,389
Iowa 19 553
Kansas 20 472
Kentucky 21 926
Louisiana 22 708
Maine 23 317
Maryland 24 1,041
Massachusetts 25 1,187
Michigan 26 1,908
Minnesota 27 992
Mississippi 28 436
Missouri 29 1,496
Montana 30 260
Nebraska 31 349
Nevada 32 647
New Hampshire 33 296
New Jersey 34 1,549
New Mexico 35 390
New York 36 3,455
North Carolina 37 1,813
North Dakota 38 166
Ohio 39 2,563
Oklahoma 40 647
Oregon 41 912
Continued on next page
8
Table 2 – continued from previous page
State FIPS Cases
Pennsylvania 42 3,134
Rhode Island 44 184
South Carolina 45 919
South Dakota 46 157
Tennessee 47 1,313
Texas 48 4,443
Utah 49 604
Vermont 50 129
Virginia 51 1,749
Washington 53 1,362
West Virginia 54 463
Wisconsin 55 1,232
Wyoming 56 102
9
Part II
Sampling Methodology
The 2018 CCES survey was conducted over the Internet by YouGov. The Common Con-
tent was asked of 60,000 adults interviewed in October 2018 (for pre-election data), and
in November 2018 (for post-election data). The sampling method uses YouGov’s matched
random sample methodology.
Sampling and Sample Matching
Sample matching is a methodology for selection of “representative” samples from non-randomly

selected pools of respondents. It is ideally suited for Web access panels, but could also be
used for other types of surveys, such as phone surveys. Sample matching starts with an
enumeration of the target population. For general population studies, the target population
is all adults, and can be enumerated through the use of the decennial Census or a high
quality survey, such as the American Community Survey. In other contexts, this is known
as the sampling frame, though, unlike conventional sampling, the sample is not drawn from
the frame. Traditional sampling, then, selects individuals from the sampling frame at ran-
dom for participation in the study. This may not be feasible or economical as the contact
information, especially email addresses, is not available for all individuals in the frame and
refusals to participate increase the costs of sampling in this way.
Sample selection using the matching methodology is a two-stage process. First, a random
sample is drawn from the target population. We call this sample the target sample.
Details on how the target sample is drawn are provided below, but the essential idea is
that this sample is a true probability sample and thus representative of the frame from
which it was drawn. However, YouGov is not able to contact these individuals directly.
Therefore, the second step is that for each member of the target sample, we select one or more
matching members from our pool of opt-in respondents. This is called the matched sample.
Matching is accomplished using a large set of variables that are available in consumer and
voter databases for both the target population and the opt-in panel.
The purpose of matching is to find an available respondent who is as similar as possible to
the selected member of the target sample. The result is a sample of respondents who have
the same measured characteristics as the target sample. Under certain conditions, described
below, the matched sample will have similar properties to a true random sample. That is,
the matched sample mimics the characteristics of the target sample. It is, as far as we can
tell, representative of the target population (because it is similar to the target sample).
When choosing the matched sample, it is necessary to find the closest matching respondent
in the panel of opt-ins to each member of the target sample. Various types of matching
could be employed: exact matching, propensity score matching, and proximity matching.
10
Exact matching is impossible if the set of characteristics used for matching is large and,
even for a small set of characteristics, requires a very large panel (to find an exact match).
Propensity score matching has the disadvantage of requiring estimation of the propensity
score. Either a propensity score needs to be estimated for each individual study, so the
procedure is automatic, or a single propensity score must be estimated for all studies. If
large numbers of variables are used the estimated propensity scores can become unstable
and lead to poor samples.
YouGov employs the proximity matching method. For each variable used for matching,
we define a distance function, d(x, y), which describes how “close” the values x and y are
on a particular attribute. The overall distance between a member of the target sample
and a member of the panel is a weighted sum of the individual distance functions on each
attribute. The weights can be adjusted for each study based upon which variables are
thought to be important for that study, though, for the most part, we have not found the
matching procedure to be sensitive to small adjustments of the weights. A large weight, on
the other hand, forces the algorithm toward an exact match on that dimension.
Theoretical Background for Sample Matching
To understand better the sample matching methodology, it may be helpful to think of the
target sample as a simple random sample (SRS) from the target population. The SRS yields
unbiased estimates because the selection mechanism is unrelated to particular characteristics
of the population. The efficiency of the SRS can be improved by using stratified sampling
in place of simple random sampling. SRS is generally less efficient than stratified sampling
because the size of population subgroups varies in the target sample.
Stratified random sampling partitions the population into a set of categories that are be-
lieved to be more homogeneous than the overall population, called strata. For example, we
might divide the population into race, age, and gender categories. The cross-classification
of these three attributes divides the overall population into a set of mutually exclusive and
exhaustive groups or strata. Then an SRS is drawn from each category and the combined
set of respondents constitutes a stratified sample. If the number of respondents selected in
each strata is proportional to their frequency in the target population, then the sample is
self-representing and requires no additional weighting.
The intuition behind sample matching is analogous to stratified sampling: if respondents
who are similar on a large number of characteristics tend to be similar on other items for
which we lack data, then substituting one for the other should have little impact upon the
sample. This intuition can be made rigorous under certain assumptions.
Assumption 1: Ignorability. Panel participation is assumed to be ignorable with respect
to the variables measured by survey conditional upon the variables used for matching. What
this means is that if we examined panel participants and non-participants who have exactly
the same values of the matching variables, then on average there would be no difference
between how these sets of respondents answered the survey. This does not imply that panel
participants and non-participants are identical, but only that the differences are captured by
11
the variables used for matching. Since the set of data used for matching is quite extensive,
this is, in most cases, a plausible assumption.
Assumption 2: Smoothness. The expected value of the survey items given the variables
used for matching is a smooth function. Smoothness is a technical term meaning that the
function is continuously differentiable with bounded first derivative. In practice, this means
that that the expected value function does not have any kinks or jumps.
Assumption 3: Common Support. The variables used for matching need to have a
distribution that covers the same range of values for panelists and non-panelists. More
precisely, the probability distribution of the matching variables must be bounded away from
zero for panelists on the range of values (known as the support) taken by the non-panelists.
In practice, this excludes attempts to match on variables for which there are no possible
matches within the panel. For instance, it would be impossible to match on computer usage
because there are no panelists without some experience using computers.
Under Assumptions 1-3, it can be shown that if the panel is sufficiently large, then the
matched sample provides consistent estimates for survey measurements. The sampling vari-
ances will depend upon how close the matches are if the number of variables used for matching
is large.
Sampling Frame and Matching
YouGov employed a combination of two frames. The first stage used a sampling frame of
U.S. Citizens from the the 2017 American Community Survey (ACS), including data on
age, race, gender, education, and Hispanic origin. The frame was constructed by stratified
sampling from the full 2017 ACS citizen sample with selection within strata by weighted
sampling with replacement (using the person weights on the public use file). Data on voter
registration status was matched from the 2018 Current Population Survey (CPS).
The sample drawn for the CCES were chosen from the YouGov Panel, along with the Dynata,
Critical Mix, and Prodege panels using a six-way cross-classification (age × gender × race
× education × region × sample source). All respondents who completed the pre-election
survey were re-invited to the post-election survey. The final set of completed pre-election
interviews (numbering approximately 87,389, after quality controls were applied) were then
matched to the target frame, using a weighted Euclidean distance metric conditioning on
registration status × age × race × gender × education.
Weighting
The sample is weighted to adjust for any remaining imbalance that exists among the matched
sample. Such imbalance results from the fact that the closest match for a particular indi-
vidual from the target sample is not necessarily a perfect match across all demographics.
The matched cases and the frame were combined and the combined cases were balanced on
multiple moment conditions using the 2017 ACS.
12
Weighting took place in two stages. First, for each team and the common content, the
completed cases were weighted to the sampling frame using entropy balancing. The 2017
ACS was used as the frame for weighting the common content and the team samples. The
CCES sample was weighted to match the distributions of the 2017 ACS on gender, age, race,
Hispanic origin, and education level.
The moment conditions included age, gender, education, race, plus their interactions. The
resultant weights were then post-stratified by age, gender, education, race, “born again"
status, voter registration status, and 2016 Presidential vote choice, as needed. Additionally,
for the common content, the weights were post-stratified across states and statewide polit-
ical races (for governor and senator). Weights larger than 15 in the common content were
trimmed and the final weights normalized to equal sample size. The team data weights were
trimmed at 7.
A second set of weights was constructed after matching the survey to Catalist. Respondents
for whom there was a validated voter registration record were weighted using the same ap-
proach as described above, but this time to ensure that those individuals were representative
of registered voters.
Using Weights
Note that the 2018 CCES Common Content includes weights for both the Pre Election and
Post Election waves of the study. The weights are constructed to ensure that the sample is
representative of different populations – either adult Americans or adult Americans who are
registered to vote.
Variable name Respondent group Target population

commonweight All respondents Adults
commonpostweight Answered both waves Adults
vvweight Matched to validated registration record Registered adults
vvweight_post Answered both waves & matched to registration record Registered adults
We recommend the use of “commonweight” any time researchers wish to characterize the
opinions and behaviors of adult Americans. However, use “commonpostweight” when you
with to characterize the opinions and behaviors of adult Americans but you are using any
items from the post-election wave of the questionnaire.
We recommend the use of “vvweight” or “vvweight_post” any time researchers wish to char-
acterize the opinions, behaviors, or traits of voters or registered voters. The“vv” stands for
“voter validated” and these weights are missing for all respondents who were not validated as
(active) registered voters. This approach differs from previous cycles when all respondents
received a value for “vvweight” and those weights were not designed solely for use with voters
or registered voters.
13
If seeking to characterize the opinions, behaviors, or traits of voters, use “vvweight” or
“vvweight_post” in conjunction with the vote validation variables.
Accuracy of the CCES Sample
The large sample of the CCES provides allows us to validate the sampling by comparing the
state level samples within the survey with the actual election results.
Comparison of the CCES with actual election results provides internal checks on the quality
of the sample and responses. Specifically, we can aggregate (using the weights vvweight_post
in the 2018 study and limiting the analysis to validated voters using CL_2018gvm) to the
state level questions on vote for Governor (2018 CC18_411), U.S. Senator (2018 CC18_410b),
and other statewide offices (CC18_420a, CC18_420b, and CC18_420c).2 The overall rela-
tionship between Democratic share of the actual vote and Democratic share of the survey
reported vote is shown in the Figure 1. For example, we see the CCES estimate of the
two-party vote for Senate along with 95% confidence intervals constructed using standard
errors to account for the sampling weights. For each state, the senatorial vote estimate falls
along the 45-degree line, indicating that the CCES estimate of the vote share is very close to
the actual vote share for that state. The subsequent plots show the same relationships for
other offices. In most cases, the actual two-party vote share falls within the 95% confidence
intervals for the CCES estimates. In fact, the root mean square error is even smaller for
these offices than for Senate elections.
The difference between the Democratic percent of the two party vote for each office in the
sample and the actual results measures the error. That error is due to sampling and to bias.
The simple difference is the Democratic party bias, the squared error is the mean squared
error, and the square root of the MSE is a measure of the standard error. The average (across
states) MSE, Root MSE, and Democratic Bias for each office are shown in Table 3. The
partisan bias in the sample is less than one percentage point for all offices except Secretary
of State. The Mean Squared Error is approximately the same size as the theoretically
derived Sampling Standard Error, indicating that there is no evidence of systematic bias or
of inflation of the precision of the estimates.
The square root of the Mean Squared Error is an alternative estimate of the standard error.
The usual estimate assumes that the only source of error comes from random sampling.
The variance of the error across surveys (in this case states) includes possible measurement
error, such as that caused by question wording, and sample biases, caused by non-response
or misreporting.
2
We also account for those who answered voting for a straight ticket option for the few states that have
this feature on their ballots. This entails appending the responses to CC18_409 to all post-election vote
choice questions.
14
Figure 1: 2018 Estimates for Statewide Races compared with Actual Election Results
U.S. Senator Governor State Attorney General
75%
MA OR
DE SC
NV NV
CCES estimate of Democratic two−party vote
NJ HI CT
WI AK SC
CT RI
TX MI NH
50% MD
KS
TX
NE MO MT OK CO
AZ
MA SD
TN
WV
AR ID
WY ND
25% WY
RMSE: 4.9pp RMSE: 4.1pp RMSE: 3.0pp
Median state absolute error: 3.2pp Median state absolute error: 3.1pp Median state absolute error: 1.8pp
Median SE on estimates: 2.8pp Median SE on estimates: 3.3pp Median SE on estimates: 2.7pp
25% 50% 75%

Secretary of State State Treasurer
MA
VT
75%
CA NM
IL
NV NV
MI
50% NE SC
CO CO
SD WY
25%
RMSE: 3.4pp RMSE: 3.3pp
WY
Median state absolute error: 2.4pp Median state absolute error: 2.4pp
Median SE on estimates: 3.3pp Median SE on estimates: 3.4pp
25% 50% 75% 25% 50% 75%

Actual Two Party Democratic Voteshare
y−axis shows weighted point estimates and 95% confidence interval.
50 contests with the largest error labelled.
Note: All analyses use post-election responses for those with both (a) non-missing validated registered
voter weights (vvweight_post) and (b) a Catalist validated vote record.
p Vertical bars show 95% confidence
intervals computed using the classic standard error formula, SE = p̂(1 − p̂)/neff , where p̂ is the weighted
proportion and neff is the sample size adjusted by the weights.
15
Table 3: Survey Accuracy in 2018 CCES Sample for Statewide Offices
Average Root Average Expected
Error MSE Freq Std. Error
Office (Democrat Bias) (Std. Error) (Responses) (Avg. Sample)
Governor +0.87pp 4.1pp 672 1.93pp
US Senator −1.03pp 4.9pp 701 1.89pp
Attorney General +1.08pp 3.0pp 682 1.91pp
Secretary of State +0.87pp 3.4pp 549 2.13pp
Treasurer +0.72pp 3.3pp 545 2.14pp
A Warning about Analyzing Subsamples
Because the CCES is such a large survey, it may provide a sufficient number of observa-
tions to encourage the analysis of even for very small subpopulations. However, we advise
caution when analyzing very small subsamples as random measurement error may lead to
faulty inferences. For example, if just 0.5% of respondents provide a mistaken response to
a question, then it may result in hundreds of respondents being mis-categorized. Thus, if
the group you wish to study is especially small, then having hundreds of mis-categorized
respondents included among that group may lead to particularly misleading conclusions.
Follow the link for more information about this issue: https://cces.gov.harvard.edu/news/
perils-cherry-picking-low-frequency-events-large-sample-surveys
Further Reading
Additional discussion of methodology can be found in the following peer-reviewed academic

articles.
• On online surveys as opposed to phone and mail:
Stephen Ansolabehere and Brian Schaffner. 2014. “Does Survey Mode Still Matter?
Findings from a 2010 Multi-Mode Comparison." Political Analysis. 22(3): 285–303.
• On the cooperative structure of the CCES:
Stephen Ansolabehere and Douglas Rivers. 2013. “Cooperative Survey Research."
Annual Review of Political Science. 16(1): 307-329.
• On the voter validation:
Stephen Ansolabehere and Eitan Hersh. 2012. “Validation: What Big Data Reveal
About Survey Misreporting and the Real Electorate.” Political Analysis. 20(4): 437-
459.
16
Breakdown of National Vote for U.S. House (CCES validated voters)
% % % of
Demographic Category Groups Demo- Repub- Elec-
cratic lican torate
Male 48% 49% 48%
Sex
Female 58% 41% 52%
White 45% 53% 74%
Black 91% 7% 11%
Race Hispanic 71% 27% 8%
Asian 71% 28% 3%
Other 56% 41% 3%
18-29 67% 30% 14%
30-44 63% 35% 22%
Age
45-64 49% 49% 37%
65 and over 44% 55% 27%
High school or less 46% 53% 28%
Some college/assoc. degree 50% 48% 30%
Education
College Graduate 57% 40% 26%
Postgraduate study 65% 32% 16%
White college graduates 55% 42% 33%
White w/o a college degree 37% 62% 41%
Education by race
Nonwhite college graduates 78% 20% 17%
Nonwhite w/o a college degree 77% 21% 18%
Under $30,000 60% 38% 20%
$30,000-$49,999 53% 45% 21%
$50,000-$99,999 51% 47% 36%
Income
$100,000-$199,999 54% 44% 19%
$200,000-$249,999 58% 40% 2%
$250,000 or more 58% 40% 2%
Democrat 96% 3% 42%
Party affiliation Republican 5% 93% 34%
Independent/other 50% 47% 24%
Liberal 96% 2% 33%
Political ideology Moderate 65% 33% 27%
Conservative 9% 89% 40%
Protestant/other Christian 38% 60% 45%
Catholic 50% 48% 18%
Religion Jewish 75% 22% 3%
Something else 65% 33% 6%
None 76% 22% 28%
White evangelical/ Yes 17% 81% 26%
born-again Christians No 66% 32% 74%
Yes 44% 54% 54%
Married
No 64% 34% 46%
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, Yes 79% 19% 11%
or transgender No 50% 48% 89%
Note: Based on post-election responses among those with a Catalist validated vote record.
17
Part III
Common Content
A tabulation of responses for each of the variables in the dataset are provided here. Each
table includes the variable code (as it appears in the dataset) and its label attribute on the
first line, as well as the associated question wording for each asked question in the subsequent
line.
Contextual variables, i.e. variables that are not survey questions and were either added as
text to fill in questions or added later, are tabulated in Part IV. The only exception to this
separation is the vote validation variables, which we include in this section.
All counts are unweighted, raw counts. Observations with missing values (not shown in the
counts) are either due to respondent skipping and missing due to the question not being
asked to the respondent (e.g. due to branching).
Please consult the questionnaire on dataverse and the list of frequnetly asked questions on our
website to examine more information, like (a) the branching structure of the questions asked,
(b) the order in which the questions were asked (the order in this guide is not necessarily
the order in which questions were asked), (c) the grid structure of the questions (this guide
disaggregates grid questions into rows).
Sample Identifiers
commonweight Weight - Common
commonpost-
Weight - Common Post
weight
vvweight Weight - Validated Registered Voters
18
vvweight_post Weight - Post - Validated Registered Voters
inputstate State of Residence
In which state do you live?
region Region
In which census region do you live?
10912 1 Northeast
13696 2 Midwest
22589 3 South
12803 4 West
cdid115 CD 115th Congress
cdid116 CD 116th Congress
countyfips County FIPS code
countyname County Name
19
inputstate_post State post
State
cdid115_post CD 115th Congress - post
cdid116_post CD 116th Congress - post
20
Profile
birthyr Birth Year
In what year were you born?
Min. 1923.0
1st Qu. 1956.0
Median 1970.0
Mean 1969.9
3rd Qu. 1986.0
Max. 2000.0
gender Gender
Are you. . . ?
25829 1 Male
34171 2 Female
sexuality Sexual Orientation
Which of the following best describes your sexuality?
52875 1 Heterosexual / straight

820 2 Lesbian / gay woman
1700 3 Gay man
2535 4 Bisexual
668 5 Other
1306 6 Prefer not to say
trans Transgender
Have you ever undergone any part of a process (including any thought or action) to change
your gender / perceived gender from the one you were assigned at birth? This may include
steps such as changing the type of clothes you wear, name you are known by or undergoing
surgery.
1140 1 Yes
57882 2 No
21
educ Education
What is the highest level of education you have completed?
2158 1 No HS
16617 2 High school graduate
12631 3 Some college
6022 4 2-year
14256 5 4-year
8316 6 Post-grad
edloan Student debtor
Are you currently responsible for paying off a student loan? (Please indicate yes even if your
student loan is currently in deferment.)
11170 1 Yes
40471 2 No
votereg Voter Registration Status
Are you registered to vote?
51921 1 Yes
7088 2 No
991 3 Don’t know
race Race
What racial or ethnic group best describes you?
45011 1 White
5631 2 Black
4965 3 Hispanic
1799 4 Asian
447 5 Native American
1478 6 Mixed
552 7 Other
117 8 Middle Eastern
22
multrace_1 Multiracial - White
Please indicate the racial or ethnic groups that best describe you? (select all that apply)
1245 1 selected
57142 2 not selected
multrace_2 Multiracial - Black
490 1 selected
multrace_3 Multiracial - Hispanic
431 1 selected
multrace_4 Multiracial - Asian
295 1 selected
multrace_5 Multiracial - Native American
420 1 selected
multrace_8 Multiracial - Middle Eastern
58 1 selected
23
multrace_97 Multiracial - Other
multrace_98 Multiracial - Don’t know
104 1 selected
multrace_99 Multiracial - None of these
hispanic Hispanic
Are you of Spanish, Latino, or Hispanic origin or descent?
2019 1 Yes
57980 2 No
CC18_354a_1 Latin heritage - No Country in Particular
From which country or region do you trace your heritage or ancestry? (Check all that apply)
71 1 selected
6917 2 not selected
CC18_354a_2 Latin heritage - United States
2733 1 selected
4255 2 not selected
24
CC18_354a_3 Latin heritage - Mexico
2747 1 selected
4241 2 not selected
CC18_354a_4 Latin heritage - Puerto Rico
1061 1 selected
5927 2 not selected
CC18_354a_5 Latin heritage - Cuba
403 1 selected
6585 2 not selected
CC18_354a_6 Latin heritage - Dominican Republic
185 1 selected
6803 2 not selected
CC18_354a_7 Latin heritage - South America
554 1 selected
6434 2 not selected
CC18_354a_8 Latin heritage - Central America
344 1 selected
6644 2 not selected
25
CC18_354a_9 Latin heritage - Caribbean
73 1 selected
6915 2 not selected
CC18_354a_10 Latin heritage - Spain
1075 1 selected
5913 2 not selected
CC18_354a_11 Latin heritage - Other
489 1 selected
6499 2 not selected
CC18_354a_12 Latin heritage - I am not of Latino, Hispanic or Spanish

heritage
31 1 selected
6957 2 not selected
CC18_354b_1 Asian heritage - No Country in Particular
17 1 selected
2075 2 not selected
26
CC18_354b_2 Asian heritage - United States
545 1 selected
1547 2 not selected
CC18_354b_3 Asian heritage - China
543 1 selected
1549 2 not selected
CC18_354b_4 Asian heritage - Japan
252 1 selected
1840 2 not selected
CC18_354b_5 Asian heritage - India
287 1 selected
1805 2 not selected
CC18_354b_6 Asian heritage - Philippines
304 1 selected
1788 2 not selected
CC18_354b_7 Asian heritage - Taiwan
92 1 selected
2000 2 not selected
27
CC18_354b_8 Asian heritage - Korea
170 1 selected
1922 2 not selected
CC18_354b_9 Asian heritage - Vietnam
164 1 selected
1928 2 not selected
CC18_354b_10 Asian heritage - Pakistan
45 1 selected
2047 2 not selected
CC18_354b_11 Asian heritage - Hmong
14 1 selected
2078 2 not selected
CC18_354b_12 Asian heritage - Cambodia
23 1 selected
2069 2 not selected
CC18_354b_13 Asian heritage - Thailand
40 1 selected
2052 2 not selected
28
CC18_354b_14 Asian heritage - Other
165 1 selected
1927 2 not selected
CC18_354b_15 Asian heritage - I am not of Asian heritage
7 1 selected
2085 2 not selected
employ Employment Status
Which of the following best describes your current employment status?
24235 1 Full-time
6262 2 Part-time
320 3 Temporarily laid off
3324 4 Unemployed
12996 5 Retired
3933 6 Permanently disabled
4809 7 Homemaker
2930 8 Student
1150 9 Other
hadjob Had job in past 5 years
At any time over the past five years, have you had a job?
13668 1 Yes
15797 2 No
internethome Internet Access at Home
What best describes the access you have to the internet at home?
55398 1 Broadband
813 2 Dial-up
3520 3 None
29
internetwork Internet access at work
What best describes the access you have to the internet at work (or at school)?
35639 1 Broadband
555 2 Dial-up
22480 3 None
marstat Marital Status
What is your marital status?
29769 1 Married
834 2 Separated
6130 3 Divorced
2913 4 Widowed
17239 5 Never married
3093 6 Domestic / civil partnership
pid7 7 point Party ID
$pid7text
14222 1 Strong Democrat

7223 2 Not very strong Democrat
6162 3 Lean Democrat
8532 4 Independent
5736 5 Lean Republican
5927 6 Not very strong Republican
10057 7 Strong Republican
2050 8 Not sure
pid3 3 point party ID
Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as a ...?
21462 1 Democrat
16000 2 Republican
16676 3 Independent
2538 4 Other
3270 5 Not sure
30
ideo5 Ideology
In general, how would you describe your own political viewpoint?
7434 1 Very liberal

10929 2 Liberal
17302 3 Moderate
12052 4 Conservative
7233 5 Very conservative
4631 6 Not sure
pew_bornagain Born Again (Pew version)
Would you describe yourself as a ”bornagain” or evangelical Christian, or not?
16093 1 Yes
43558 2 No
pew_religimp Importance of religion (Pew version)
How important is religion in your life?
20938 1 Very important

15273 2 Somewhat important
9399 3 Not too important
14060 4 Not at all important
pew_churatd Church attendance (Pew version)
Aside from weddings and funerals, how often do you attend religious services?
4320 1 More than once a week

10053 2 Once a week
4415 3 Once or twice a month
8460 4 A few times a year
13515 5 Seldom
18081 6 Never
811 7 Don’t know
31
pew_prayer Frequency of Prayer (Pew version)
People practice their religion in different ways. Outside of attending religious services, how
often do you pray?
15599 1 Several times a day

8397 2 Once a day
7347 3 A few times a week
1501 4 Once a week
3981 5 A few times a month
9249 6 Seldom
12123 7 Never
1435 8 Don’t know
religpew Religion
What is your present religion, if any?
21272 1 Protestant
11477 2 Roman Catholic
823 3 Mormon
293 4 Eastern or Greek Orthodox
1467 5 Jewish
332 6 Muslim
527 7 Buddhist
218 8 Hindu
4069 9 Atheist
4045 10 Agnostic
11873 11 Nothing in particular
3194 12 Something else
32
relig-
Protestant Church
pew_protestant
To which Protestant church or group do you belong?
6528 1 Baptist
2844 2 Methodist
4750 3 Nondenominational or Independent Church
2219 4 Lutheran
1387 5 Presbyterian
1369 6 Pentecostal
991 7 Episcopalian
802 8 Church of Christ or Disciples of Christ
474 9 Congregational or United Church of Christ
189 10 Holiness
218 11 Reformed
200 12 Adventist
258 13 Jehovah’s Witness
1227 90 Something else
religpew_baptist Baptist Church
To which Baptist church do you belong, if any?
2738 1 Southern Baptist Convention

534 2 American Baptist Churches in USA
170 3 National Baptist Convention
45 4 Progressive Baptist Convention
1035 5 Independent Baptist
114 6 Baptist General Conference
285 7 Baptist Missionary Association
63 8 Conservative Baptist Assoc. of America
401 9 Free Will Baptist
416 10 General Association of Regular Baptists
1141 90 Other Baptist
33
relig-
Methodist Church
pew_methodist
To which Methodist church do you belong, if any?
2705 1 United Methodist Church

113 2 Free Methodist Church
84 3 African Methodist Episcopal
23 4 African Methodist Episcopal Zion
58 5 Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
234 90 Other Methodist Church
relig-
Nondenominational or Independent Church
pew_nondenom
To which kind of nondenominational or independent church do you belong, if any?
2131 1 Nondenominational evangelical

274 2 Nondenominational fundamentalist
359 3 Nondenominational charismatic
442 4 Interdenominational
1576 5 Community church
1048 90 Other
relig-
Lutheran Church
pew_lutheran
To which Lutheran church do you belong?
979 1 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)

791 2 Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod
155 3 Lutheran Church, Wisconsin Synod
502 4 Other Lutheran Church
34
religpew_presby Presbyterian Church
To which Presbyterian church do you belong?
796 1 Presbyterian Church USA

311 2 Presbyterian Church in America
36 3 Associate Reformed Presbyterian
25 4 Cumberland Presbyterian Church
54 5 Orthodox Presbyterian
126 6 Evangelical Presbyterian Church
330 90 Other Presbyterian Church
relig-
Pentecostal Church
pew_pentecost
To which Pentecostal church do you belong?
573 1 Assemblies of God

79 2 Church of God Cleveland TN
57 3 Four Square Gospel
200 4 Pentecostal Church of God
102 5 Pentecostal Holiness Church
102 6 Church of God in Christ
14 7 Church of God of the Apostolic Faith
32 8 Assembly of Christian Churches
78 9 Apostolic Christian
410 90 Other Pentecostal Church
religpew_episcop Episcopal Church
To which Episcopalian church do you belong?
835 1 Episcopal Church in the USA

127 2 Anglican Church (Church of England)
12 3 Anglican Orthodox Church
28 4 Reformed Episcopal Church
100 90 Other Episcopalian or Anglican Church
35
relig-
Christian Church
pew_christian
To which Christian church do you belong?
645 1 Church of Christ

161 2 Disciples of Christ
121 3 Christian Churches and Churches of Christ
86 90 Other Christian church
religpew_congreg Congregational Church
To which congregational church do you belong?
454 1 United Church of Christ

49 2 Conservative Congregational Christian
36 3 National Association of Congregational Christians
105 90 Other Congregational
religpew_holiness Holiness Church
To which Holiness church do you belong?
49 1 Church of the Nazarene

19 2 Wesleyan Church
9 3 Free Methodist Church
15 4 Christian and Missionary Alliance
41 5 Church of God (Anderson, Indiana)
12 6 Salvation Army, American Rescue workers
198 90 Other Holiness
relig-
Reformed Church
pew_reformed
To which Reformed church do you belong?
92 1 Reformed Church in America

124 2 Christian Reformed Church
161 90 Other Reformed
36
religpew_advent Adventist Church
To which Adventist church do you belong?
195 1 Seventh Day Adventist

21 2 Church of God, General Conference
15 3 Advent Christian
68 90 Other Adventist
religpew_catholic Catholic Church
To which Catholic church do you belong?
11493 1 Roman Catholic Church

65 2 National Polish Catholic Church
32 3 Greek-rite Catholic
120 4 Armenian Catholic
367 5 Old Catholic
325 90 Other Catholic
relig-
Mormon Church
pew_mormon
To which Mormon church do you belong?
881 1 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

20 2 Community of Christ
15 90 Other Mormon
relig-
Orthodox Church
pew_orthodox
To which Orthodox church do you belong?
121 1 Greek Orthodox

58 2 Russian Orthodox
35 3 Orthodox Church in America
23 4 Armenian Orthodox
52 5 Eastern Orthodox
21 6 Serbian Orthodox
42 90 Other Orthodox
37
religpew_jewish Jewish Group
To which Jewish group do you belong?
795 1 Reform
423 2 Conservative
126 3 Orthodox
59 4 Reconstructionist
228 90 Other
religpew_muslim Muslim Group
To which Muslim group do you belong?
242 1 Sunni
33 2 Shia
42 3 Nation of Islam (Black Muslim)
43 90 Other Muslim
relig-
Buddhist group
pew_buddhist
To which Buddhist group do you belong?
110 1 Theravada (Vipassana) Buddhism

300 2 Mahayana (Zen) Buddhism
118 3 Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism
188 90 Other Buddhist
religpew_hindu Hindu Group
With which of the following Hindu groups, if any, do you identify with most closely?
103 1 Vaishnava Hinduism

39 2 Shaivite Hinduism
25 3 Shaktism Hinduism
71 90 Other Hindu
38
child18 Child under 18 years
Are you the parent or guardian of any children under the age of 18?
15532 1 Yes
44340 2 No
child18num Number of children under 18 years
Are you the parent or guardian of any children under the age of 18?
Min. 1.0
1st Qu. 1.0
Median 2.0
Mean 1.9
3rd Qu. 2.0
Max. 20.0
newsint Political Interest
Some people seem to follow what’s going on in government and public affairs most of the
time, whether there’s an election going on or not. Others aren’t that interested. Would you
say you follow what’s going on in government and public affairs ...
29630 1 Most of the time

15710 2 Some of the time
7748 3 Only now and then
4457 4 Hardly at all
2070 7 Don’t know
39
faminc_new Family income
Thinking back over the last year, what was your family’s annual income?
2900 1 Less than $10,000

4365 2 $10,000 - $19,999
5843 3 $20,000 - $29,999
6142 4 $30,000 - $39,999
5281 5 $40,000 - $49,999
5243 6 $50,000 - $59,999
4059 7 $60,000 - $69,999
4266 8 $70,000 - $79,999
5068 9 $80,000 - $99,999
3614 10 $100,000 - $119,999
3172 11 $120,000 - $149,999
2082 12 $150,000 - $199,999
863 13 $200,000 - $249,999
469 14 $250,000 - $349,999
176 15 $350,000 - $499,999
226 16 $500,000 or more
ownhome Home ownership
Do you own your home or pay rent?
36435 1 Own
20300 2 Rent
3059 3 Other
citylength_1 Current city residence length - Years
How long have you lived in your current city of residence?
Min. 0.0
1st Qu. 4.0
Median 13.0
Mean 17.2
3rd Qu. 25.0
Max. 100.0
40
citylength_2 Current city residence length - Months
How long have you lived in your current city of residence?
Min. 0.0
1st Qu. 2.0
Median 4.0
Mean 4.5
3rd Qu. 6.0
Max. 100.0
urbancity Type of Area Living In
How would you describe the place where you live?
17108 1 City
22775 2 Suburb
8250 3 Town
11593 4 Rural area
226 5 Other
milstat_1 I am currently serving in the U.S. military
We’d like to know whether you or someone in your immediate family is currently serving or
has ever served in the U.S. military. Immediate family is defined as your parents, siblings,
spouse, and children. Please check all boxes that apply.
368 1 selected
milstat_2 I have immediate family members currently serving in the U.S.

military
3812 1 selected
41
milstat_3 I previously served in the U.S. military but I am no longer
active
6768 1 selected
milstat_4 Members of my immediate family have served in the U.S.

military but are no longer active
23159 1 selected
milstat_5 Neither myself nor any members of my immediate family have

ever served in the U.S. military
29659 1 selected
immstat Immigration background
Which of these statements best describes you?
2950 1 I am an immigrant to the USA and a naturalized citizen

1134 2 I am an immigrant to the USA and not a citizen of the USA
5734 3 I was born in the USA but at least one of my parents is an
immigrant
11884 4 My parents and I were born in the USA but at least one of my
grandparents was an immigrant
38157 5 My parents, grandparents and I were all born in the USA
42
cit1 US citizen
Are you a United States citizen?
58825 1 Yes
1134 2 No
union Labor union member
Are you a member of a labor union?
3739 1 Yes, I am currently a member of a labor union

10423 2 I formerly was a member of a labor union
45771 3 I am not now, nor have I been, a member of a labor union
union_coverage union_coverage
Are you covered by a union contract, also known as a collective bargaining agreement?
1295 1 Yes
52276 2 No
2464 3 Not sure
unionhh Family labor union member
Other than yourself, is any member of your household a union member?
4870 1 Yes, a member of my household is currently a union member

7417 2 A member of my household was formerly a member of a labor
union, but is not now
47454 3 No, no one in my household has ever been a member of a labor
union
investor Stock ownership
Do you personally (or jointly with a spouse), have any money invested in the stock market
right now, either in an individual stock or in a mutual fund?
25090 1 Yes
34663 2 No
43
healthins2 Purchase health insurance thru exchange
When you purchased health insurance did you use a health insurance exchange?
2191 1 Yes
3821 2 No
healthins_1 Yes, through my employer or a family member’s employer
Do you currently have health insurance? (Please check all that apply)
28688 1 selected
healthins_2 Yes, through Medicaid
8561 1 selected
healthins_3 Yes, through another government program such as Medicare
15826 1 selected
healthins_4 Yes, through my school
493 1 selected
healthins_5 Yes, I purchased my own
5959 1 selected
44
healthins_6 Not sure
882 1 selected
healthins_7 No
5423 1 selected
votereg_post Voter Registration Status post
Are you registered to vote?
47657 1 Yes
3793 2 No
358 3 Don’t know
votereg_f_post Registered to vote post
Is $izip the zip code where you are registered to vote?
1080 1 Yes
98 2 No
birthyr_post birthyr
In what year were you born?
Mode
gender_post Gender
Are you...?
45
Pre-election
CC18_300_1 Media Use - Blog
In the past 24 hours have you ...(check all that apply)
10840 1 selected
CC18_300_2 Media Use - TV
38536 1 selected
CC18_300_3 Media Use - Newspaper
25300 1 selected
CC18_300_4 Media Use - Radio
21484 1 selected
CC18_300_5 Media Use - Social Media
45257 1 selected
CC18_300_6 Media Use - None
2081 1 selected
46
CC18_300b Media use - TV news type
12125 1 Local Newscast

8017 2 National Newscast
17796 3 Both
CC18_300c Media use - Newspaper type
7018 1 Print
13449 2 Online
4528 3 Both
CC18_300d_1 Social media - Posted a story, photo, video or link about politics
Did you do any of the following on social media (such as Facebook, YouTube or Twitter)?
12423 1 selected
CC18_300d_2 Social media - Posted a comment about politics
14294 1 selected
CC18_300d_3 Social media - Read a story or watched a video about politics
29124 1 selected
47
CC18_300d_4 Social media - Followed a political event
13217 1 selected
CC18_300d_5 Social media - Forwarded a story, photo, video or link about

politics to friends
12792 1 selected
CC18_301 National Economy
Would you say that OVER THE PAST YEAR the nation’s economy has ...?
11900 1 Gotten much better

15315 2 Gotten better
16991 3 Stayed about the same
9608 4 Gotten worse
3387 5 Gotten much worse
2717 6 Not sure
CC18_302 Past year household income
Would you say that OVER THE PAST YEAR your household’s annual income has. . . ?
3268 1 Increased a lot

16959 2 Increased somewhat
29406 3 Stayed about the same
7303 4 Decreased somewhat
2942 5 Decreased a lot
CC18_303_1 Life Changes - Married
OVER THE PAST YEAR have you. . .
1911 1 selected
48
CC18_303_2 Life Changes - Lost a job
4052 1 selected
CC18_303_3 Life Changes - Finished school
2081 1 selected
CC18_303_4 Life Changes - Retired
2365 1 selected
CC18_303_5 Life Changes - Divorced
660 1 selected
CC18_303_6 Life Changes - Had a child
2203 1 selected
CC18_303_7 Life Changes - Taken a new job
9125 1 selected
49
CC18_303_8 Life Changes - Been issued a traffic ticket
3698 1 selected
CC18_303_9 Life Changes - Been a victim of a crime
1906 1 selected
CC18_303_10 Life Changes - Visited an emergency room
14818 1 selected
CC18_303_11 Life Changes - Received a raise at work
12744 1 selected
CC18_308a Job approval – President Trump
Do you approve or disapprove of the way each is doing their job...
15019 1 Strongly approve

9440 2 Somewhat approve
5223 3 Somewhat disapprove
28520 4 Strongly disapprove
1765 5 Not sure
50
CC18_308b Job approval – The U.S. Congress

5854 5 Not sure
CC18_308c Job approval – The U.S. Supreme Court

8550 5 Not sure
CC18_308d Job approval – Governor

6338 5 Not sure
CC18_308e Job approval – Legislature

11232 5 Not sure
51
CC18_309a Party of Government Knowledge – U.S. House of
Representatives
Which party has a majority of seats in ...
44244 1 Republicans
3013 2 Democrats
1135 3 Neither
11540 4 Not sure
CC18_309b Party of Government Knowledge – U.S. Senate
44031 1 Republicans
3265 2 Democrats
1243 3 Neither
11383 4 Not sure
CC18_309c Party of Government Knowledge - State Senate
23633 1 Republicans
14121 2 Democrats
1610 3 Neither
20094 4 Not sure
CC18_309d Party of Government Knowledge - State Lower Chamber
22628 1 Republicans
14010 2 Democrats
1448 3 Neither
21719 4 Not sure
52
CC18_310a Party Recall + Name Recognition - Governor
Please indicate whether you’ve heard of this person and if so which party he or she is affiliated
with...
1963 1 Never heard of person

29247 2 Republican
19415 3 Democrat
342 4 Other Party / Independent
8867 5 Not sure
CC18_310b Party Recall + Name Recognition - Senator 1

with...

17178 2 Republican
28858 3 Democrat
10878 5 Not sure
CC18_310c Party Recall + Name Recognition - Senator 2

with...

23509 2 Republican
22556 3 Democrat
11116 5 Not sure
CC18_310d Party Recall + Name Recognition - Representative

with...

23461 2 Republican
18172 3 Democrat
13712 5 Not sure
53
CC18_311a Job approval - Representative
Please indicate whether you approve or disapprove of the job that each of the following are
doing.

20196 2 Approve
11350 3 Disapprove
10471 5 Never heard of this person
CC18_311b Job approval - Senator 1
doing.

20231 2 Approve
12642 3 Disapprove
CC18_311c Job approval - Senator 2
doing.

19531 2 Approve
11819 3 Disapprove
CC18_316 Vote 2016
Did you vote in the 2016 General Election?
46518 1 Yes
12158 2 No
1291 3 I don’t recall
54
CC18_317 President 2016
In the election for U.S. President, who did you vote for?
19313 1 Donald Trump

21947 2 Hillary Clinton
4618 3 Someone else
398 4 I did not cast a vote for president
CC18_318a Primary 2018
Did you vote in your state’s primary election to nominate candidates for Congress or state
office on $Primary_Date_Formatted of this year?
23509 0 No, I did not vote in the Primary Elections on $Pri-

mary_Date_Formatted.
15194 1 Yes, I voted in the Democratic Primary.
12509 2 Yes, I voted in the Republican Primary.
654 3 Yes, I voted in another party’s primary.
4373 5 Yes, I voted in $inputstate’s Primary Elections.
CC18_320a Gun Control – Background checks for all sales, including at gun
shows and over the Internet
On the issue of gun regulation, are you for or against each of the following proposals?
53989 1 For
5728 2 Against
CC18_320c Gun Control – Ban assault rifles
39057 1 For
20507 2 Against
55
CC18_320d Gun Control – Make it easier for people to obtain a
concealed-carry gun permit
20554 1 For
39036 2 Against
CC18_321a Abortion – Always allow a woman to obtain an abortion as a

matter of choice
Do you support or oppose each of the following proposals?
35751 1 Support
24150 2 Oppose
CC18_321b Abortion – Permit abortion ONLY in case of rape, incest or

when the woman’s life is in danger
24315 1 Support
35583 2 Oppose
CC18_321c Abortion – Ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy
38280 1 Support
21634 2 Oppose
CC18_321d Abortion – Allow employers to decline coverage of abortions in

insurance plans
25999 1 Support
33938 2 Oppose
56
CC18_321e Abortion – Prohibit the expenditure of funds authorized or
appropriated by federal law for any abortion.
26280 1 Support
33651 2 Oppose
CC18_321f Abortion – Make abortions illegal in all circumstances
9224 1 Support
50685 2 Oppose
CC18_322a Immigration – Increase spending on border security by $25

billion, including building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico
What do you think the U.S. government should do about immigration? Do you support or
oppose each of the following?
24362 1 Support
35323 2 Oppose
CC18_322b Immigration – Provide legal status

to children of immigrants who are already in the United States
and were brought to the United States by their parents. Provide
these children the option of citizenship in 10 years if they meet
citizenship requirements and commit no crimes. (DACA).
45043 1 Support
14817 2 Oppose
CC18_322c_new Immigration – Reduce legal immigration by eliminating the visa

lottery and ending family-based migration
24732 1 Support
33934 2 Oppose
57
CC18_322d_new Immigration – Grant legal status to DACA children, spend $25
billion to build the border wall, and reduce legal immigration by
eliminating the visa lottery and ending family-based migration
19582 1 Support
39074 2 Oppose
CC18_322c Immigration – Withhold federal funds from

any local police department that does not report to the federal
government anyone they identify as an illegal immigrant
27821 1 Support
32124 2 Oppose
CC18_322f Immigration – Send to prison any person who has been

deported from the United States and reenters the United States.
31045 1 Support
28884 2 Oppose
CC18_325a Taxes – Cut the Corporate Income Tax rate from 39 percent to
21 percent.
Congress considered many changes in tax law over the past two years. Do you support or
27249 1 Support
32570 2 Oppose
58
CC18_325b Taxes – Reduce the mortgage interest
deduction. Allow people to deduct the interest on no more than
$500,000 of mortgage debt. The previous limit was $1 million.
38556 1 Support
21283 2 Oppose
CC18_325c Taxes – Limit the amount of state and local taxes that can be
deducted to $10,000 (previously there was no limit).
30365 1 Support
29511 2 Oppose
CC18_325d Taxes – Increase the standard deduction on federal income

taxes from $12,000 to to $25,000
42651 1 Support
17202 2 Oppose
CC18_325e_new Taxes – Reduce the income tax rate for households earning less
than $500,000 by 3%
47022 1 Support
11612 2 Oppose
CC18_325f_new Taxes – Reduce the income tax rate for households earning
more than $500,000 by 3 percent (from 40%to 37%).
23723 1 Support
34902 2 Oppose
59
CC18_326 Tax Bill
Would you support or oppose a tax bill that does all of the following? Cuts the Corporate
Income Tax rate from 39 percent to 21 percent.Reduces the mortgage interest deduction
from $1 million to $500,000.Caps the amount of state and local tax that can be deducted
to $10,000 (previously there was no limit).Increases the standard deduction from $12,000 to
$25,000.Cuts income tax rates for all income groups by 3 percent.
33297 1 Support
26329 2 Oppose
CC18_327a Health Care – Provide Medicare for all Americans.
Thinking now about health care policy, would you support or oppose each of the following
proposals?
41280 1 Support
18637 2 Oppose
CC18_327c Health Care – Repeal the entire Affordable Care Act.
proposals?
24887 1 Support
35039 2 Oppose
CC18_327d Health Care – Repeal only the part of the Affordable Care Act
that requires that most individuals have health insurance and
that larger employers cover their employees.
proposals?
24112 1 Support
35787 2 Oppose
60
CC18_327e Health Care – Partially repeal the Affordable Care
Act. This would (1) repeal individual and employer mandates,
(2) cut Medicaid payments by 25 percent, and (3) reduce taxes
on expensive health plans, known as Cadillac health plans.
proposals?
23495 1 Support
36408 2 Oppose
CC18_328b Roll Call Votes – Appoint Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court
of the United State
Over the past two years, Congress voted on many issues. If you were in Congress would you
have voted FOR or AGAINST each of the following?
28879 1 For
30975 2 Against
CC18_328d Roll Call Votes – Require that the President get approval from
Congress to ease any existing sanctions on Russia.
42507 1 For
17389 2 Against
CC18_328e Roll Call Votes – Impose sanctions on

countries and firms doing business with North Korea. Increase
President’s authority to impose sanctions if North Korea violates
U.N. Security Council resolutions regarding that country.
42373 1 For
17519 2 Against
61
CC18_328f Roll Call Votes – Appoint Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme
Court of the United States.
25794 1 For
34119 2 Against
CC18_331a Trade policy – $50 billion worth of tariffs on goods imported

from China
On the issue of trade, do you support or oppose the following proposed tariffs?
29290 1 Support
30591 2 Oppose
CC18_331b Trade Policy – 25% tariffs on

imported steel and 10% on imported aluminum, EXCEPT from
Canada, Europe and Mexico.
28817 1 Support
31036 2 Oppose
CC18_331c Trade Policy

– 25% tariffs on imported steel and 10% on imported aluminum,
INCLUDING from Canada, Europe and Mexico.
21137 1 Support
38738 2 Oppose
CC18_332a Executive Orders – Recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel

and move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
President Trump has issued many orders over the first year of his presidency. Do you support
or oppose each of the following decisions?
32416 1 Support
27504 2 Oppose
62
CC18_332b Executive Orders – Allow the construction of the Keystone XL
pipeline.
27731 1 Support
32203 2 Oppose
CC18_332c Executive Orders – Withdraw the United States from the Paris
Climate Agreement.
22867 1 Support
37069 2 Oppose
CC18_332e Executive Orders –

Withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership
trade agreement, a free trade agreement that included the U.S.,
Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Canada, Chile, others.
23333 1 Support
36577 2 Oppose
CC18_334A Ideological Placement – Yourself
How would you rate each of the following individuals and groups?
6835 1 Very Liberal

8018 2 Liberal
5855 3 Somewhat Liberal
13340 4 Middle of the Road
6139 5 Somewhat Conservative
9532 6 Conservative
6925 7 Very Conservative
3329 8 Not sure
63
CC18_334B Ideological Placement – $CurrentGovName
5450 1 Very Liberal

6430 2 Liberal
10726 8 Not sure
CC18_334C Ideological Placement – Donald Trump
2431 1 Very Liberal

1033 2 Liberal
9748 8 Not sure
CC18_334D Ideological Placement – The Democratic Party
21647 1 Very Liberal

11840 2 Liberal
1538 6 Conservative
6182 8 Not sure
64
CC18_334E Ideological Placement – The Republican Party
1259 1 Very Liberal

1178 2 Liberal
6556 8 Not sure
CC18_334F Ideological Placement – The United States Supreme Court
900 1 Very Liberal

1198 2 Liberal
9003 8 Not sure
CC18_334G Ideological Placement – $CurrentSen1Name
2888 1 Very Liberal

3410 2 Liberal
6478 6 Conservative
8074 8 Not sure
65
CC18_334H Ideological Placement – $CurrentSen2Name
4290 1 Very Liberal

4698 2 Liberal
7589 6 Conservative
10006 8 Not sure
CC18_334I Ideological Placement – $SenCand1Name
10333 1 Very Liberal

10178 2 Liberal
1430 6 Conservative
8701 8 Not sure
CC18_334J Ideological Placement – $SenCand2Name
1621 1 Very Liberal

1619 2 Liberal
9037 6 Conservative
15986 8 Not sure
66
CC18_334I2 Ideological Placement – $SenCand1Name2
206 1 Very Liberal

333 2 Liberal
34 6 Conservative
445 8 Not sure
CC18_334J2 Ideological Placement – $SenCand2Name2
27 1 Very Liberal
34 2 Liberal
314 6 Conservative
565 8 Not sure
CC18_334M Ideological Placement – $HouseCand1Name
7301 1 Very Liberal

10169 2 Liberal
1862 6 Conservative
23757 8 Not sure
67
CC18_334N Ideological Placement – $HouseCand2Name
854 1 Very Liberal

1218 2 Liberal
24655 8 Not sure
CC18_334O Ideological Placement – $CurrentHouseName
565 1 Very Liberal

784 2 Liberal
1463 6 Conservative
2467 8 Not sure
CC18_335 Trump Russia collusion

Do you think that Donald Trump colluded with Russian operatives to influence the 2016
election?
27103 1 Yes
23793 2 No
9062 3 Not sure
68
CC18_350 Does R Intend to Vote in 2018
Do you intend to vote in the 2018 midterm election on November 6?
40640 1 Yes, definitely

5751 2 Probably
3046 3 I already voted (early or absentee)
964 4 I plan to vote before November 6th
5567 5 No
3992 6 Undecided
CC18_351 Senator Pref
In the race for U.S. Senator in your state, who do you prefer?
18902 1 $SenCand1Name ($SenCand1Party)

525 7 Other
6431 8 I’m not sure
2926 9 No one
CC18_351a Senator Pref 2nd choice
Who is your second choice for U.S. Senator?

111 7 Other
2067 9 No one
CC18_351b Senator 2nd race Pref
In the other race for U.S. Senator in your state, who do you prefer?
605 1 $SenCand1Name2 ($SenCand1Party2)

1 7 Other
53 9 No one
69
CC18_351c Senator 2nd race Pref 2nd choice
Who is your second choice for U.S. Senator?
72 7 Other
473 9 No one
CC18_351x Senate vote
For whom did you vote for U.S. Senator?

34 4 Other
58 5 I did not vote in this race
11 6 I did not vote
31 7 Not sure
CC18_351bx Senate 2nd race vote
In the other race for U.S. Senator in your state, for whom did you vote?
2 7 Other
1 8 I’m not sure
CC18_352 Governor Pref
In the race for Governor in your state, who do you prefer?
18961 1 $GovCand1Name ($GovCand1Party)

508 7 Other
2268 9 No one
70
CC18_352x Governor vote
For whom did you vote for Governor?

39 7 Other
13 9 I did not vote
36 10 Not sure
CC18_352a Governor Pref 2nd choice
Who is your second choice for Governor?

156 7 Other
2408 9 No one
CC18_353 House Pref
In the general election for U.S. House of Representatives in your area, who do you prefer?
24358 1 $HouseCand1Name ($HouseCand1Party)

539 7 Other
3375 9 No one
71
CC18_353a House Pref 2nd choice
Who is your second choice for U.S. House of Representatives?

281 7 Other
2048 9 No one
CC18_353x House vote
For whom did you vote for U.S. House?

64 7 Other
23 9 I did not vote
64 90 Not sure
72
Post-election
CC18_401 Voted in 2018 Midterm
Which of the following statements best describes you?
2546 1 I did not vote in the election this November.

1220 2 I thought about voting this time – but didn’t.
1209 3 I usually vote, but didn’t this time.
751 4 I attempted to vote but did not or could not.
42286 5 I definitely voted in the Midterm Election on November 6th.
CC18_402a Main reason didn’t vote
What was the main reason you did not vote?
234 1 I forgot
1245 2 I’m not interested
782 3 Too busy
710 4 Did not like the candidates
1713 5 I am not registered
148 6 I did not have the correct form of identification
494 7 Out of town
789 8 Sick or disabled
323 9 Transportation
122 10 Bad weather
145 11 The line at the polls was too long
88 12 I was not allowed to vote at the polls, even though I tried
186 13 I requested but did not receive an absentee ballot
126 14 I did not know where to vote
1147 15 I did not feel that I knew enough about the choices
977 16 Other
287 55 Don’t know
73
CC18_402b Second reason didn’t vote
Was there any other reason you did not vote?
202 1 I forgot
851 2 I’m not interested
623 3 Too busy
643 4 Did not like the candidates
719 5 I am not registered
124 6 I did not have the correct form of identification
254 7 Out of town
334 8 Sick or disabled
330 9 Transportation
174 10 Bad weather
143 11 The line at the polls was too long
72 12 I was not allowed to vote at the polls, even though I tried
93 13 I requested but did not receive an absentee ballot
172 14 I did not know where to vote
899 15 I did not feel that I knew enough about the choices
1189 16 Other
1631 55 Don’t know
CC18_403 Vote in person or by mail
Did you vote in person _on_ Election Day, in person _before_ Election Day, or by mail
(that is, absentee or vote by mail)?
22529 1 In person on election day

8758 2 In person before election day (early)
11237 3 Voted by mail (or absentee)
428 4 Don’t know
CC18_403b Vote at precinct polling place or vote center
Did you vote in person _on_ Election Day, in person _before_ Election Day, or by mail
(that is, absentee or vote by mail)?
18681 1 At a precinct polling place

3477 2 At a vote center
74
CC18_404 Voting length wait time
Approximately, how long did you have to wait in line to vote?
13734 1 Not at all

10529 2 Less than 10 minutes
5073 3 10 - 30 minutes
1520 4 31 minutes - 1 hour
388 5 More than 1 hour
40 6 Don’t know
CC18_405 Registered to vote on Election Day
Did you register to vote at the polls or city office on Election Day this year?
485 1 Yes
3848 2 No
CC18_406a Problem with voter registration or ID when trying to vote

Was there a problem with your voter registration or voter identification when you tried to
vote?
42061 1 No
928 2 Yes
CC18_406b_1 Problem with voting - ID
What was the problem? Check all that apply.
169 1 selected
773 2 not selected
CC18_406b_2 Problem with voting - Registration
258 1 selected
684 2 not selected
75
CC18_406b_3 Problem with voting - Wrong place
107 1 selected
835 2 not selected
CC18_406b_4 Problem with voting - Other
378 1 selected
564 2 not selected
CC18_406c Allowed to vote
Were you allowed to vote?
116 1 No, I was not allowed to vote

146 2 I was allowed to vote using a provisional ballot
656 3 I voted
CC18_408 Straight Ticket
Your state offers voters the opportunity to vote a straight party ticket. Did you choose the
straight ticket option or did you vote for each specific office separately?
4472 1 No, I did not select a Straight Party Ticket

4021 2 Yes, I selected a Straight Party Ticket
155 3 Not sure
CC18_409 Straight Ticket - Party
Did you choose the Democratic Party Ticket, the Republican Party Ticket, or some other
party?
1887 1 The Democratic Party Ticket

2115 2 The Republican Party Ticket
17 3 Another Party’s Ticket
76
CC18_410b Senator vote
For whom did you vote for U.S. Senator?

335 4 Other
231 7 Not sure
CC18_410bx Senator vote 2nd race
In the other race for U.S. Senator in your state, for whom did you vote?

11 7 Other
12 8 I’m not sure
4 9 No one
CC18_411 Governor vote
For whom did you vote for Governor?

544 7 Other
180 10 Not sure
77
CC18_412 House vote
For whom did you vote for U.S. House?

680 7 Other
449 90 Not sure
CC18_412a Vote for retiring CurrentHouseName or HouseCand1Name
If $CurrentHouseName were running for reelection against $HouseCand1Name, who would

you likely vote for?
3098 1 $CurrentHouseName ($CurrentHouseParty)

956 3 Not sure
599 4 Someone else
461 5 Not vote
CC18_412b Vote for retiring CurrentHouseName or HouseCand2Name
If $CurrentHouseName were running for reelection against $HouseCand2Name, who would

you likely vote for?
2870 1 $CurrentHouseName ($CurrentHouseParty)

1124 3 Not sure
1139 4 Someone else
544 5 Not vote
78
CC18_410b_nv Senator prefer
In the race for U.S. Senator in your state, which candidate did you prefer?

167 4 Other
2136 7 Not sure
CC18_410c_nv Senator prefer 2nd race
In the other race for U.S. Senator in your state, who did you prefer?
2 7 Other
27 8 I’m not sure
31 9 No one
CC18_411_nv Governor prefer
In the race for Governor in your state, which candidate did you prefer?

149 7 Other
2024 10 Not sure
CC18_412_nv House prefer
In the race for U.S. House in your district, which candidate did you prefer?

175 7 Other
3366 90 Not sure
79
CC18_420a State Vote - AG
For whom did you vote for in the race for the Attorney General of $inputstate?
14127 1 $AttCand1Name ($AttCand1Party)

10516 2 $AttCand2Name ($AttCand2Party)
545 3 Other
571 5 Not sure
CC18_420b State Vote - SOS
For whom did you vote for in the race for Secretary of State of $inputstate?
10468 1 $SecCand1Name ($SecCand1Party)

7151 2 $SecCand2Name ($SecCand2Party)
354 3 Other
466 5 Not sure
CC18_420c State Vote - Treasurer
For whom did you vote for in the race for the Treasurer of $inputstate?
9184 1 $TrsCand1Name ($TrsCand1Party)

7775 2 $TrsCand2Name ($TrsCand2Party)
458 3 Other
710 5 Not sure
CC18_413c CC18_413_grid – $inputstate State Senate
For whom did you vote for in the following state elections ...
21247 1 Democratic candidate

16695 2 Republican candidate
792 3 Other candidate
898 4 Did not vote in this race
2289 5 There was no race for this office
80
CC18_413d CC18_413_grid – $LowerChamberName
For whom did you vote for in the following state elections ...
21610 1 Democratic candidate

17140 2 Republican candidate
911 3 Other candidate
981 4 Did not vote in this race
1528 5 There was no race for this office
CC18_414A State Vote – Ballot measures – Raise the state minimum wage
to $12 an hour
If your state put the following questions for a vote on the ballot, would you vote FOR or
AGAINST?
36206 1 For
15592 2 Against
CC18_414B State Vote ballot measures – Increase taxes on incomes that

exceed $1 million by 4 percent to pay for schools and roads
AGAINST?
36557 1 For
15227 2 Against
CC18_414C State Vote ballot measures – Increase the sales tax by one
percent to pay for schools and roads.
AGAINST?
19421 1 For
32346 2 Against
CC18_414D State Vote ballot measures – Eliminate and prohibit all income
taxes in your state.
AGAINST?
23472 1 For
28298 2 Against
81
CC18_414E State Vote ballot measures – Prohibit public funds from
being spent on abortions, except when the health of the mother
is in danger or in cases of rape or incest.
AGAINST?
28256 1 For
23521 2 Against
CC18_324a Budget bills - Proposal A
The federal budget contains about $600 billion for national defense and $550 billion for
domestic discretionary spending such as education and transportation, and $2 trillion for
nondiscretionary spending on entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Se-
curity. Considered on their own, would you SUPPORT or OPPOSE each of the following
budget proposals?
• Increase defense spending by $60 billion.
• Cut discretionary nondefense spending by $60 billion.
• Cut Medicaid, Food Stamps, and other entitlements by $150 billion.
13872 1 Support
37824 2 Oppose
CC18_324b Budget bills - Proposal B
budget proposals?
• Increase defense spending by $60 billion.
• Increase discretionary nondefense spending by $60 billion.
• Leave spending on entitlement programs unchanged
17183 1 Support
34493 2 Oppose
82
CC18_324c Budget bills - Proposal C
budget proposals?
• Cut defense spending by $60 billion.
• Increase discretionary nondefense spending by $60 billion.
• Increase spending on entitlement programs by $150 billion
22730 1 Support
28972 2 Oppose
CC18_324d Budget bills - Proposal D
budget proposals?
• Leave defense spending unchanged.
• Leave discretionary nondefense spending unchanged.
• Leave spending on entitlement programs unchanged.
25895 1 Support
25825 2 Oppose
CC18_415a Environment – Give the Environmental Protection Agency

power to regulate Carbon Dioxide emissions
33678 1 Support
17805 2 Oppose
CC18_415b Environment – Lower the required fuel efficiency for the average
automobile from 35 mpg to 25 mpg.
16535 1 Support
34966 2 Oppose
83
CC18_415c Environment – Require that each state use a minimum
amount of renewable fuels (wind, solar, and hydroelectric) in the
generation of electricity even if electricity prices increase
31567 1 Support
19957 2 Oppose
CC18_415d Environment – Strengthen the Environmental Protection

Agency enforcement of the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act
even if it costs US jobs
30106 1 Support
21438 2 Oppose
CC18_416 Financial regulation
The Financial CHOICE Act repeals government authority under the Dodd-Frank Act to
step in if a bank is near collapse. Gives the President the power to fire the directors of the
Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Reduces
restrictions on the amount of risk that smaller banks can take in lending. Do you support
or oppose the Financial CHOICE Act?
23136 1 Support
28369 2 Oppose
CC18_417_a Executive Orders Post – Repeal the Clean Power Plant Rules,
which calls for power plants to cut greenhouse gas emissions by
32 percent by 2030.
President Trump has issued many orders over the first two years of his presidency. For each
of the following tell us whether you support or oppose the order in principle.
20916 1 Support
30698 2 Oppose
84
CC18_417_b Executive Orders Post – Withdraw US from the Iran Nuclear
Accord and reimpose sanctions on Iran
27346 1 Support
24266 2 Oppose
CC18_417_c Executive Orders Post – Ban immigrants

from Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya from coming
to the United States for 90 days. Permanently prohibits Syrian
refugees from entering country.
25660 1 Support
25973 2 Oppose
CC18_417_d Executive Orders Post – Ban Transgender People in the

Military
17161 1 Support
34413 2 Oppose
CC18_417_e Executive Orders Post – Requires that with each new

regulation enacted, two must be cut. Any new costs created by
new regulations must be matched with eliminations.
24351 1 Support
27220 2 Oppose
85
CC18_417a_1 Past year - Attend local political meetings
During the past year did you ... (Check all that apply)
7175 1 selected
CC18_417a_2 Past year - Put up a political sign
9163 1 selected
CC18_417a_3 Past year - Work for a candidate or campaign
3089 1 selected
CC18_417a_4 Past year - Attend a political protest, march or demonstration
5277 1 selected
CC18_417a_5 Past year - Contact a public official
14961 1 selected
86
CC18_417a_6 Past year - Donate money to a candidate, campaign, or
political organization
11802 1 selected
CC18_417a_7 Past year - Donate blood
6833 1 selected
CC18_417a_8 Past year - None of these
25318 1 selected
CC18_417b_1 Donate money - Candidate for U.S. Senate in my state
Please indicate to which of the following groups or people you donated money. Select all
that apply.
4021 1 selected
7820 2 not selected
CC18_417b_2 Donate money - Candidate for U.S. Senate in another state
that apply.
2924 1 selected
8917 2 not selected
87
CC18_417b_3 Donate money - Candidate for U.S. House in my state
that apply.
3361 1 selected
8480 2 not selected
CC18_417b_4 Donate money - Candidate for U.S. House in another state
that apply.
1810 1 selected
CC18_417b_5 Donate money - Candidate for state office
that apply.
2951 1 selected
8890 2 not selected
CC18_417b_6 Donate money - Political party committee
that apply.
4889 1 selected
6952 2 not selected
CC18_417b_7 Donate money - Political action committee at work
that apply.
1498 1 selected
88
CC18_417b_8 Donate money - Political group
that apply.
2650 1 selected
9191 2 not selected
CC18_417b_9 Donate money - Other
that apply.
958 1 selected
CC18_417c Amount contribute to all candidates/committees
Approximately how much did you contribute to all candidates and committees over the last
year?
Min. 1.0
1st Qu. 50.0
Median 100.0
Mean 484.0
3rd Qu. 250.0
Max. 500000.0
CC18_418a Ever run for elective office
Have you ever run for elective office at any level of government (local, state or federal)?
1796 1 Yes
49930 2 No
CC18_418bx_1 Run for office - School Board
Which of the following offices have you run for? Select all that apply.
430 1 selected
1367 2 not selected
89
CC18_418bx_2 Run for office - Other local board or commission
370 1 selected
1427 2 not selected
CC18_418bx_3 Run for office - City Council
533 1 selected
1264 2 not selected
CC18_418bx_4 Run for office - Mayor
197 1 selected
1600 2 not selected
CC18_418bx_5 Run for office - City or District Attorney
77 1 selected
1720 2 not selected
CC18_418bx_6 Run for office - Countywide office (e.g. supervisor)
156 1 selected
1641 2 not selected
CC18_418bx_7 Run for office - State legislature
197 1 selected
1600 2 not selected
90
CC18_418bx_8 Run for office - Statewide office
74 1 selected
1723 2 not selected
CC18_418bx_9 Run for office - Federal legislature (U.S. House or Senate)
60 1 selected
1737 2 not selected
CC18_418bx_10 Run for office - Judge
45 1 selected
1752 2 not selected
CC18_418bx_11 Run for office - Other
391 1 selected
1406 2 not selected
CC18_421a 3 pt party ID
Generally speaking, do you think of yourself as a ... ?
19954 1 Democrat
14873 2 Republican
14461 3 Independent
2517 4 Other
91
CC18_421_dem Party ID Dem strength
Would you call yourself a strong Democrat or not so strong Democrat?
13335 1 Strong Democrat

6596 2 Not so strong Democrat
CC18_421_rep Party ID Rep strength
Would you call yourself a strong Republican or not so strong Republican?
9326 1 Strong Republican

5538 2 Not so strong Republican
CC18_421b Party ID lean
Do you think of yourself as closer to the Democratic or the Republican party?
4909 1 The Democratic Party

4827 2 The Republican Party
6541 3 Neither
664 8 Not sure
President Trump Job Approval

CC18_app_dtrmp_post
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as President?

1319 5 Not sure
92
CC18_422e Racial Resentment – Irish, Italians, Jewish and many other
minorities overcame prejudice and worked their way up. Blacks
should do the same without any special favors.
How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
15529 1 Strongly agree

11321 2 Somewhat agree
8784 3 Neither agree nor disagree
7272 4 Somewhat disagree
8744 5 Strongly disagree
CC18_422f Racial Resentment – Generations of slavery and discrimination

have created conditions that make it difficult for blacks to work
their way out of the lower class.

CC18_422g Racial Resentment – Over the past few years, blacks have
gotten less than they deserve.

93
CC18_422h Racial Resentment – It’s really a matter
of some people not trying hard enough, if blacks would only try
harder they could be just as well off as whites.

CC18_422a Racism – White people in the U.S. have certain advantages

because of the color of their skin.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

CC18_422b Racism - Racial problems in the U.S. are rare, isolated

situations.

94
CC18_422c Sexism – When women lose to men in a fair competition, they
typically complain about being discriminated against.

CC18_422d Sexism – Feminists are making entirely reasonable demands of

men.

CC18_423a Race/ethnicity politicians - $HouseCand1Name
What is the race or ethnicity of the following candidates or politicians?
27741 1 White
5771 2 Black
2985 3 Hispanic
1055 4 Asian
1174 5 Other
12677 6 Not sure
CC18_423b Race/ethnicity politicians - $HouseCand2Name
33052 1 White
1305 2 Black
1703 3 Hispanic
585 4 Asian
476 5 Other
11685 6 Not sure
95
CC18_423c Race/ethnicity politicians - $CurrentHouseName
6128 1 White
232 2 Black
529 3 Hispanic
97 4 Asian
66 5 Other
1122 6 Not sure
CC18_426_1 State spending - Welfare
State legislatures must make choices when making spending decisions on important state
programs. How would you like your legislature to spend money on each of the five areas
below?
6419 1 Greatly increase

9989 2 Slightly increase
18863 3 Maintain
8393 4 Slightly decrease
8025 5 Greatly decrease
CC18_426_2 State spending - Health Care
below?

12689 3 Maintain
96
CC18_426_3 State spending - Education
below?

11805 3 Maintain
CC18_426_4 State spending - Law Enforcement
below?

18443 3 Maintain
CC18_426_5 State spending - Transportation/Infrastructure
below?

13851 3 Maintain
CC18_427_a Grade local community - The schools
Thinking now about your _local community_, how would you grade the following:
6230 1 A - Excellent
15854 2 B - Above Average
20790 3 C - Average
6356 4 D - Below Average
2466 5 F - Poor
97
CC18_427_b Grade local community - The police
21958 3 C - Average
1923 5 F - Poor
CC18_427_c Grade local community - The roads
21873 3 C - Average
5644 5 F - Poor
CC18_427_d Grade local community - Zoning and development
27562 3 C - Average
4055 5 F - Poor
numchildren Number of children
How many children have you ever had? Please count all that were born alive at any time
(including any you had from a previous marriage).
Min. 0.0
1st Qu. 0.0
Median 1.0
Mean 1.6
3rd Qu. 2.0
Max. 19.0
98
Vote Validation
Individual records were matched to the Catalist database of registered voters in the United
States. Matching was performed in July 2019. States have updated their vote history data
by May of the year following the election year. It should be noted that a record may not
be matched either because the individual is not registered to vote or because of incomplete
or inaccurate information that prevented a match. Matches are made only with records for
which there is a high level of confidence that the respondent is being assigned to the correct
record. However, even by setting a high threshold of confidence, there will still be some
false-positives which should be considered when using the validation records.
Among the CCES 2018 records that were matched to the voter files (i.e., were registered),
approximately 76 percent were determined to have voted in the 2018 General Election and
46 percent were determined to have voted in the 2018 Primary Elections. If a person has
any non-missing value for CL_2018gvm, they have a validated vote record for that election.
If a person has any non-missing value for CL_2018pvm, they have a validated vote record
for that election. A missing value on these variables means that no record of voting can be
found for that respondent.
There are three possible ways to measure turnout in the 2018 CCES using the validation
variables. Two use only the “CL_2018gvm" vote validation variable while the third uses
this variable in conjunction with self-reported registration (votereg_post) and self-reported
turnout (CC18_401).
1. Un-matched as non-voters. The first specification defines voters as respondents
with a validated voting record no matter their mode of participation, and defines non-
voters as both matched non-voters and non-matched respondents. This specification
retains the integrity of the full CCES sample, no missing values are created. The jus-
tification for this approach is the fact that the most common reason that Catalist will
not have a record for an individual is because that individual is not registered to vote.
Indeed, rates of self-reported non-registration and non-voting are much higher among
un-matched respondents than among those for whom there is a match.
2. Only matched non-voters as non-voters. The second specification defines non-

voters as only matched non-voters. This specification reduces the CCES sample and
results in validated turnout estimates that are larger than those in the first specifica-
tion. However, this specification increases the level of certainty in the identification
of non-voters in the CCES, because there could possibly be actual voters among non-
matched respondents.
3. Matched non-voters and self-reported non-voters as non-voters. The third

specification defines non-voters as (1) matched non-voters, (2) non-matched respon-
dents who reported not being registered to vote in the “votereg_post" question, and
(3) non-matched respondents who are self-reported non-voters in the “CC18_401"
question. This definition excludes non-matched respondents who are self-reported
99
voters (these individuals would be coded as missing). This definition assumes that
self-reported non-voters are honest about their non-participation because there is no
incentive to go against the democratic norm of participation.
Finally, the data received from YouGov and Catalist lists the response options for “CL_party"
and “CL_2018pep" by the three digit abbreviations shown below. For the sake of clarity
and consistency with past codings, we included the full party name in parentheses in the
Guide. However, the dataset is still coded by the original three digit abbreviations. For
example, the responses shown below as “DEM (Democratic Party)" will appear as “DEM”
in the datafile.
CL_matched Catalist - matched to voter file
15660 1 No
44340 2 Yes
CL_voter_status Catalist - voter status for matched records
40017 1 active
1313 2 dropped
518 3 inactive
449 4 multipleAppearances
2043 6 unregistered
CL_state Catalist - registration state
Alphabetical list of states
100
CL_party Catalist - party affiliation3
43 1 CNS (Conservative Party)

11 2 CST (Constitution Party)
10542 3 DEM (Democratic Party)
797 4 DTS (Decline to State)
71 5 GRE (Green Party)
335 6 IND (Independent)
161 7 LIB (Libertarian)
4039 8 NPA (No Party Affiliation)
349 9 OTH (Other)
2 10 REF (Reform Party)
7972 11 REP (Republican Party)
2 12 SOC (Socialist Party)
17516 13 UNK (Unknown/No Party Registration)
9 14 WOR (Working Families Party)
CL_2018gvm Catalist - 2018 general election voting method
5071 1 absentee
5721 2 earlyVote
5151 3 mail
10154 4 polling
7665 5 unknown
CL_2018pep Catalist - 2018 primary election party4
4581 1 DEM (Democratic Party)

4 2 GRE (Green Party)
11 3 LIB (Libertarian)
16 4 NPA (No Party Affiliation)
5 5 OTH (Other)
4476 6 REP (Republican Party)
101
CL_2018pvm Catalist - 2018 primary election voting method
2269 1 absentee
2333 2 earlyVote
3365 3 mail
7174 4 polling
5049 5 unknown
102
Part IV
Contextual Variables
Contextual variables consist of the names and parties of the candidates for U. S. House, U.
S. Senate, and Governor. For all offices, Candidate 1 is the Democrat and Candidate 2 is
the Republican, except when no Democrat is running. When no Democrat is running, the
Republican is listed as Candidate 1. When only one candidate is running, Candidate 2 is
listed as “NA”.
Pre-Election Survey Contextual Variables
CurrentGovName Current Governor Name
CurrentGovParty Current Governor Party
CurrentHouse-
Current House Name
Name
CurrentHousePa-
Current House Party
rty
Cur-
Current Senate 1 Name
rentSen1Name
103
CurrentSen1Party Current Senate 1 Party
Cur-
Current Senate 2 Name
rentSen2Name
CurrentSen2Party Current Senate 2 Party
GovCand1Name Governor Candidate 1 Name
GovCand1Party Governor Candidate 1 Party
104
House-
House Candidate 1 Name
Cand1Name
HouseCand1Party House Candidate 1 Party
House-
Cand2Name
House-
Cand3Name
105
House-
Cand4Name
House-
Cand5Name
House-
Cand6Name
House-
Cand7Name
106
LegName Legislature name
LowerChamber-
Lower chamber name
Name
SenCand1Name Senate Candidate 1 Name
SenCand1Party Senate Candidate 1 Party
107
SenCand1Name2 Senate Candidate 1 Name 2nd race
SenCand1Party2 Senate Candidate 1 Party 2nd race
CurrentGov-
Current Governor Name - post
Name_post
108
109
Post-Election Survey Contextual Variables
CurrentGov-
Current Governor Party - post
Party_post
CurrentHouse-
Current House Gender - post
Gender_post
CurrentHouse-
Current House Name - post
Name_post
CurrentHousePa-
Current House Party - post
rty_post
Cur-
Current Senate 1 Name - post
rentSen1Name_post
Cur-
Current Senate 1 Party - post
rentSen1Party_post
110
Cur-
Current Senate 2 Name - post
rentSen2Name_post
Cur-
Current Senate 2 Party - post
rentSen2Party_post
Gov-
Governor Candidate 1 Name - post
Cand1Name_post
Gov-
Governor Candidate 1 Party - post
Cand1Party_post
Gov-
Cand2Name_post
Gov-
Cand2Party_post
Gov-
Cand3Name_post
111
Gov-
Cand3Party_post
House-
House Candidate 1 Name - post
Cand1Name_post
House-
House Candidate 1 Party - post
Cand1Party_post
House-
Cand2Name_post
House-
Cand2Party_post
House-
Cand3Name_post
House-
Cand3Party_post
112
House-
Cand4Name_post
House-
Cand4Party_post
House-
Cand5Name_post
House-
Cand5Party_post
House-
Cand6Name_post
House-
Cand6Party_post
House-
Cand7Party_post
113
House-
Cand7Name_post
LegName_post Legislature name - post
LowerChamber-
Lower chamber name - post
Name_post
Sen-
Senate Candidate 1 Name - post
Cand1Name_post
Sen-
Senate Candidate 1 Party - post
Cand1Party_post
Sen-
Cand2Name_post
Sen-
Cand2Party_post
114
Sen-
Cand3Name_post
Sen-
Cand3Party_post
Sen-
Senate Candidate 1 Name 2nd race - post
Cand1Name2_post
Sen-
Cand2Name2_post
Sen-
Cand3Name2_post
Sen-
Senate Candidate 1 Party 2nd race - post
Cand1Party2_post
Sen-
Cand2Party2_post
115
Sen-
Cand3Party2_post
AttCand1Name Attorney General Candidate 1 Name - post
AttCand2Name Attorney General Candidate 2 Name - post
AttCand1Party Attorney General Candidate 1 Party - post
AttCand2Party Attorney General Candidate 2 Party - post
SecCand1Name Secretary of State Candidate 1 Name - post
SecCand2Name Secretary of State Candidate 2 Name - post
SecCand1Party Secretary of State Candidate 1 Party - post
116
SecCand2Party Secretary of State Candidate 2 Party - post
TrsCand1Name Treasurer Candidate 1 Name - post
TrsCand2Name Treasurer Candidate 2 Name - post
TrsCand1Party Treasurer Candidate 1 Party - post
TrsCand2Party Treasurer Candidate 2 Party - post
117

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Guide to the 2018 Cooperative Congressional Election Survey

Data Release No. 21

Brian Schaffner, co-PI

Sam Luks, co-PI

The 2018 Cooperative Congressional Election Study was supported by the

Referencing the Study 5

State Sample Sizes 8

Table 1: Teams and Principal Investigators

Team Principal Investigator

Table 2: State Sample Sizes

State FIPS Cases

Sampling and Sample Matching

Sample matching is a methodology for selection of “representative” samples from non-randomly

Theoretical Background for Sample Matching

Sampling Frame and Matching

Variable name Respondent group Target population

Accuracy of the CCES Sample

U.S. Senator Governor State Attorney General

25% 50% 75%

25% 50% 75% 25% 50% 75%

A Warning about Analyzing Subsamples

Additional discussion of methodology can be found in the following peer-reviewed academic

commonweight Weight - Common

vvweight Weight - Validated Registered Voters

inputstate State of Residence

In which state do you live?

In which census region do you live?

cdid115 CD 115th Congress

cdid116 CD 116th Congress

countyfips County FIPS code

countyname County Name

cdid115_post CD 115th Congress - post

cdid116_post CD 116th Congress - post

In what year were you born?

sexuality Sexual Orientation

Which of the following best describes your sexuality?

52875 1 Heterosexual / straight

What is the highest level of education you have completed?

edloan Student debtor

votereg Voter Registration Status

Are you registered to vote?

What racial or ethnic group best describes you?

multrace_2 Multiracial - Black

multrace_3 Multiracial - Hispanic

multrace_4 Multiracial - Asian

multrace_5 Multiracial - Native American

multrace_8 Multiracial - Middle Eastern

multrace_98 Multiracial - Don’t know

multrace_99 Multiracial - None of these

Are you of Spanish, Latino, or Hispanic origin or descent?

CC18_354a_1 Latin heritage - No Country in Particular

CC18_354a_2 Latin heritage - United States

CC18_354a_4 Latin heritage - Puerto Rico

CC18_354a_5 Latin heritage - Cuba

CC18_354a_6 Latin heritage - Dominican Republic

CC18_354a_7 Latin heritage - South America

CC18_354a_8 Latin heritage - Central America

CC18_354a_10 Latin heritage - Spain

CC18_354a_11 Latin heritage - Other