WASHINGTON — For Democrats to restore their competitiveness outside urban centers and build durable majorities, they must improve their standing with working-class voters. Historically, Democrats have thrived when advocating for the economic aspirations and moral values of ordinary working Americans. However, with former President Donald Trump winning significant support among working-class Black and Latino voters, Democrats face an urgent challenge to regain the trust and support of these critical demographic groups.
Today, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) released a new poll commissioned by YouGov to aid Democrats in crafting more effective appeals to working-class voters. PPI President Will Marshall offers detailed findings and analysis in the report, titled “Campaign for Working America: A PPI/YouGov Survey of Working-Class Voters.”
“Despite falling inflation and rising wages, working-class voters remain deeply pessimistic about the economy, with illegal immigration ranking as their second-highest concern. The poll highlights a profound sense of alienation among these voters, who feel their government is more responsive to the wealthy and the college-educated than to people like them. On a positive note for Democrats, few non-college voters support outlawing abortion, and many are skeptical of the Republican initiative to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize private schools,” said Will Marshall.
“This PPI/YouGov poll provides Democrats with a roadmap for regaining the trust of working Americans by urgently addressing their economic anxieties and offering pragmatic and sensible solutions to our nation’s toughest challenges.”
This survey also informs the work of PPI’s Campaign for Working America, launched in partnership with former U.S. Representative Tim Ryan (D-Ohio). The campaign aims to develop and test new themes, ideas, and policy proposals to help center-left leaders offer a compelling economic message to working Americans, find common ground on cultural issues, and rally support for maintaining America’s global leadership.
The poll surveyed 6,033 working-class voters, including 902 in a national sample and oversamples in seven critical battleground states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Nevada. The respondents were registered voters without a four-year degree.
Key findings from the national poll include:
• Although the U.S. inflation rate has fallen below 3% and wage gains are growing faster, working Americans still rank the high cost of living as their top concern.
• This poll confirms a profound disconnect between the Biden administration’s economic record and public perception. Working-class voters believe Biden has given low priority to what the White House regards as its signature themes and accomplishments, such as creating more manufacturing jobs, building modern infrastructure, promoting green jobs like building electric cars, and delivering high-speed broadband to rural Americans.
• Non-college voters blame their economic woes mainly on the increase in illegal immigrants taking their jobs and raising costs. By a large margin, they believe the Biden administration is too soft on border security.
• Working Americans feel alienated from their government, viewing it as more responsive to wealthier people (75%), college-educated people (70%), whites (62%), urbanites (62%), and liberals (61%) than to “people like me” (41%). Less than half say the government is responsive to parents, religious people, and conservatives, and only about a third see it as responsive to rural and poor people. Working-class voters, especially in Arizona, Michigan, and North Carolina, don’t trust the federal government to do the right thing.
• A plurality of working-class voters (47-42%) support U.S. political and military support for Ukraine and worry that cutting off that aid would embolden Russian ruler Vladimir Putin to threaten Europe.
• Non-college voters are skeptical of a precipitous rush to end fossil fuel use in America, as well as the Biden administration’s pause in constructing natural gas export facilities.
• Working-class voters have made the connection between high housing costs and exclusionary zoning. By nearly 2-1 across the key battleground states of Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, these voters support eliminating zoning regulations to enable the construction of more multifamily dwellings and drive down housing costs.
• A majority (52-42) of non-college voters believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. They trust Democrats more (53-47) to ensure families have access to reproductive health care. Working-class support for outlawing abortion altogether is negligible, with just 6% of working-class voters supporting a full ban.
• Working Americans are unhappy with the quality of health care. Fully 51% of the national sample say America’s health care system is getting worse, with just 24% saying it is improving. They seem open to big changes in health care policy. Nationally, working-class voters are tied, 42-42, on whether to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In the battleground states of Arizona, Michigan, and North Carolina, they are also split on whether they generally trust Democrats or Republicans more to handle health care.
• Working-class voters are more upset about crime elsewhere in America than in their neighborhoods. Just 9% think crime in their community has gotten a lot worse recently, while 46% say crime is getting much worse “around the country.” They split evenly on whether the best solution to crime is “more police on the streets” or mental health care and social services, with about 25% supporting either approach.
• Working-class voters in Arizona, Michigan, and North Carolina are split on the subject of school vouchers. Michiganders squarely oppose them, with 38% supporting vouchers and 49% opposing. Arizonans support vouchers by a 49-40 margin, as do North Carolinians by a 46-41 margin. However, when framed as a choice between funding public and private schools, working Americans overwhelmingly (76%-24% on average across the three states) prefer improving the quality of local public schools to using taxpayer dollars to subsidize private schools.
Read and download the report here.
In November, PPI released a companion poll in a report titled “Winning Back Working America: A PPI/YouGov Survey of Working-Class Attitudes,” by PPI President Will Marshall. This study delves into the opinions and attitudes of working-class voters, providing essential insights for Democratic strategies leading up to the 2024 elections.
The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Find an expert at PPI and follow us on Twitter.
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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org