“The State of the State Survey found that voters are not satisfied with the state’s current direction. However, there are clear policy priorities that could help them perceive the Legislature and state government better,” Dr. Nathan R. Shrader said, Millsaps assistant professor of political sciences. These priorities include overwhelming support for the creation of a state lottery, and the need to address tangible problems such as infrastructure and lack of affordable and accessible health care. We also learned that many key state officials like Lynn Fitch and Delbert Hosemann are very popular among the voters and should therefore be considered as possible candidates for higher office.” The survey results on road and bridge repairs revealed contradictions. Nearly 25% of respondents ranked infrastructure improvement as their top priority. However, only 38% supported increasing the state’s gasoline taxes to fund the repairs. Only 29% believe that the lottery revenue should go to repair roads and bridges, while 51% believe it should be used to fund public education.