The economy continues to be the top issue on voters’ minds, but government spending has now worked its way into the top three on the list of 15 major issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports.
Seventy-two percent (72%) of Likely U.S. Voters say the economy is Very Important in terms of how they will vote in the next congressional election, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. (To see survey question wording,
click here
.)
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The surveys of 1,000 Likely Voters each were conducted on June 4-5, 8-9 and 10-11, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error for each survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by
Pulse Opinion Research, LLC
. See
methodology
.
The economy continues to be the top issue on voters’ minds, but government spending has now worked its way into the top three on the list of 15 major issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports.
Seventy-two percent (72%) of Likely U.S. Voters say the economy is Very Important in terms of how they will vote in the next congressional election, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. (To see survey question wording,
click here
.)
(Want a
free daily e-mail update
? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on
Twitter
and
Facebook
.
The surveys of 1,000 Likely Voters each were conducted on June 4-5, 8-9 and 10-11, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error for each survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by
Pulse Opinion Research, LLC
. See
methodology
.
The economy continues to be the top issue on voters’ minds, but government spending has now worked its way into the top three on the list of 15 major issues regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports.
Seventy-two percent (72%) of Likely U.S. Voters say the economy is Very Important in terms of how they will vote in the next congressional election, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. (To see survey question wording,
click here
.)
The economy has long been the number-one issue in terms of importance to voters, with the number who sees it as a Very Important issue ranging from 72% to 87%
in surveys for years
.
Following the health care debates in Congress in 2009 and 2010, the issue of health care jumped in importance and has remained a top issue ever since. Prior to that, government ethics and corruption was just behind the economy in terms of importance.
Health care is back in the number-two spot after falling to third-most important after job creation
in January
. Sixty-seven percent (67%) now consider health care Very Important in terms of how they will vote.
Voters remain closely divided over how Obamacare will influence their vote in the November congressional election
.
Government spending is now the third most important issue to voters, with 63% who consider it Very Important, although that number is unchanged from January.
Fifty-six percent (56%) of voters think
thoughtful spending cuts should be considered in every program of the federal government
. But just 26% think it’s even somewhat likely that government spending will be significantly reduced over the next few years.
(Want a
free daily e-mail update
? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on
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and
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.
The surveys of 1,000 Likely Voters each were conducted on June 4-5, 8-9 and 10-11, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error for each survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by
Pulse Opinion Research, LLC
. See
methodology
.
Republicans still hold the advantage in terms of voter trust on both the economy
and government spending. Voters trust Democrats more when it comes to health care.
Job creation, which held the number three spot in the previous survey, now runs almost even with spending, with 62% who think it’s a Very Important issue. Nearly as many (61%) consider Social Security Very Important to how they will vote in November.
The
Rasmussen Employment Index
which measures worker confidence jumped five points in May to its highest level in over six years of monthly tracking. But
just 44% of voters are at least somewhat confident that the Social Security system will pay them all their promised retirement benefits
, with 19% who are Very Confident.
Tied next in importance are education and government ethics and corruption, both considered Very Important by 58% of voters.
As high school graduation nears,
fewer voters than ever think high schoolers have the skills necessary to enter the workforce
, and they’re no more confident in their readiness for college.
Gun control is considered Very Important by 52% of voters, followed by taxes, which is seen as Very Important by 51%.
Forty percent (40%) of voters think the United States needs stricter gun control laws
, but 53% disagree.
Sixty-one percent (61%) still prefer a smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes
over a more active one with more services and higher taxes.
Fewer than half (48%) see energy policy as a Very Important issue. Voters are more optimistic than ever that the United States can completely end its dependence on oil imports, although
most still think the country is not doing enough to develop its own resources
.
Next on the list are issues affecting small businesses, which 46% consider Very Important, followed by national security and the War on Terror, seen as Very Important by 44% of voters.
Belief that America is winning the War on Terror and is safer than before the 9/11 terrorist attacks
have fallen to their lowest levels in three years.
Immigration is seen as a Very Important voting issue by 42%. While official Washington, D.C. debates the need for immigration reform,
most voters continue to believe as they have for years that gaining control of the border is the most pressing need
.
The environment is considered Very Important by just 37%, even as the Environmental Protection Agency releases new restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions.
Most voters like the new regulations despite the fact that they believe they will increase energy costs
. But most also are not willing to pay much, if anything, for them.
The war in Afghanistan sits at the bottom of the list of 15, with just one-in-four (26%) who consider it a Very Important voting issue. President Obama recently announced his plans to withdraw all but 9,800 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year and fully withdraw troops by the end of 2016.
Forty-eight percent (48%) believe some U.S. troops should remain in Afghanistan through 2016, but nearly as many (44%) think the United States should withdraw all troops by the end of this year
.
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from this survey and a
full demographic breakdown
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