Political poll on Bloomington mayor, Hopewell South, other city issues circulates by text
A text-message poll circulating to Bloomington area residents asks about mayor Kerry Thomson’s job performance, and views on city government. When asked, Thomson did not explicitly confirm that she or her campaign commissioned the survey.
A poll with questions about Bloomington politics has been circulated by text message to Bloomington area residents at least since Tuesday night (April 14).
As of Friday afternoon, the poll was still live.
The name of the polling organization indicated by the URL link in the initial text message is Pollus. That’s a firm based in Washington, D.C., which conducts polling and survey research through online, text, and other methods.
In addition to basic demographic questions, like age, gender, education level and race, the poll includes questions about Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s job performance. Among the performance questions in the poll are items about the city’s unhoused population, affordable housing, and crime. The poll also asks respondents whether they think Bloomington city government is “running fine,” “needs small reforms,” or is “fundamentally broken.”
Another section of the questionnaire asks respondents whether Bloomington leaders should “take time to plan, debate and build agreement” or instead “act quickly to deliver solutions.” The survey also includes a "trial-heat" question, asking how the respondent would vote if the Democratic Party’s primary election for mayor of Bloomington were held today. Thomson is a Democrat.
The poll also asks respondents about their attitudes toward the Hopewell South development proposal. The Hopewell South PUD is again on the Bloomington city council’s agenda for next Wednesday night (April 22).
Also in the mix are questions that measure favorability of opinions about the two candidates for Monroe County commissioner in the Democratic Party’s primary this year. Vying for that nomination in the May 5 primary are Trent Deckard and David Henry.
The B Square has extracted the poll questions and included them at the end of this article.
As a group, the questions resemble the kind of early campaign research typically used by candidates to measure voter satisfaction with current leadership and gauge attitudes toward potential campaign issues. The B Square has paid for professional polling in the past, but the poll in current circulation was not commissioned by The B Square.
Thomson did not explicitly confirm to The B Square that it was her campaign that commissioned the poll.
Responding to a B Square text asking, “Is that a survey you or your team commissioned?” Thomson replied: “Thanks for reaching out. We’re starting to prepare for next year’s city elections and doing the usual groundwork—fundraising, building a team, and continuing to gather input from Bloomington residents.”
Thomson’s 2025 year-end CFA-4 finance report shows that in 2025, the second year of her four-year term, her fundraising efforts yielded $54,791.51 in donations. After expenditures, that left her campaign with $127,642.99 in cash on hand at the end of the year.
By way of comparison, in the second year of his final term in 2021, then-mayor John Hamilton raised $23,419, which left his campaign with $48,681 cash on hand after expenditures.
Polls like the one in current circulation can cost between $5,000 and $7,000.
According to Thomson’s 2025 year-end filing, she listed 17 donors who gave more than $1,000. The largest contribution was $7,500 from the Ice Miller PAC in Indianapolis. Ice Miller LLP is a large Indianapolis-based law firm with more than 300 lawyers and offices in several U.S. cities.
Only $16,249 of Thomson’s $54,791 total in 2025, or about 29.7%, came from Bloomington addresses, according to the campaign finance report. [dynamic map of contributions]
The figures from the filing have been compiled by The B Square into a shared Google Sheet.
Thomson has scheduled a fundraiser for May 13, 2026, which falls after the May 5 primary election.
Bloomington Survey
Indiana Opinion Surveys is conducting a scientific research study of Bloomington residents. Your personal information will not be shared with anyone, and all responses will be used for research purposes only. These first few questions are just to make sure we are surveying a representative sample of the entire community.
Which of the following best describes your age?
Are you:
What is the highest level of education you have fully completed?
How would you describe your race or ethnicity?
When it comes to politics, do you consider yourself to be:
Regardless of how you feel about the candidates today, back in the 2024 election for president, who did you vote for?
Politically speaking, would you say you are...
There will be a general election in November this year for congress, Indiana Secretary of State, and other state offices. How likely are you to vote in that election?
Next, here are some public figures and groups you may know. Please indicate if you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, neutral, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable opinion of each one. If you haven’t heard the name, please select that option.
Even though it is a long time from now, how likely are you to vote in the May 2027 primary elections for Bloomington Mayor?
Next, even though it’s a long time from now, if the Democratic primary election for Mayor of Bloomington were held today, how would you vote?
What have you seen, heard, or read lately about Mayor Kerry Thomson and Bloomington city government? We read every response, so the more detail the better!
When it comes to Bloomington’s city government, do you think it is:
Which of the following comes closest to your view?
What are one or two concerns or issues you would like Bloomington’s city government to address? Again, we read every response so please share your thoughts.
Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with how Mayor Kerry Thomson is doing in each of the following areas?
Which of the following is more important for Bloomington?
How much have you seen or heard about the Hopewell South proposal, the proposed redevelopment plan of the former IU Health Bloomington Hospital site?
Overall, do you support or oppose the Hopewell South proposal?
Lastly, do you own or rent the place where you live?
That completes our survey. Thank you VERY MUCH for your time.
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