Partisan Differences on Key Issues

With less than a month to go before the presidential election, voters are homing in on the issues that matter most to them when deciding who gets their vote. Healthcare, climate change and the economy are among the top traditional issues voters are considering, while the coronavirus, unemployment and race relations are all larger issues that have emerged in 2020. A new survey shows which issues Republicans and Democrats are focused on the most ahead of the election.

In a new survey from Gallup, wide partisan differences in key issues and policies were observed between Democrats and Republicans with just one month before the election. For Republicans, the economy, terrorism and crime captured nearly all of their party’s attention, whereas for Democrats, healthcare, race relations and the coronavirus were observed as top priorities.

Overall, the economy and education received the highest amount of bipartisan attention among likely voters. 93 percent of Republicans and 85 percent of Democrats viewed the economy as an important issue, while 79 percent of Republicans and 85 percent of Democrats viewed education as important.

The largest difference between the two parties was observed with climate change. While 88 percent of Democrats view climate change as an important issue, a meager 23 percent of Republicans say the same. This large discrepancy shows just how far Democrats have to go to convince Republicans of the major threat climate change poses for the country.

It is yet to be seen whether Donald Trump’s recent positive infection of COVID-19 will push Republicans’ priorities more toward the coronavirus. Out of the many issues polled by Gallup, Republicans’ interest in the coronavirus was near the bottom – just ahead of climate change and relations to Russia.