The high cost of living drove the top concerns for Utahns heading into the midterm elections as more voters are unsure which party they’d be more likely to support in head-to-head races.
A plurality of Utah voters (48%) said the economy and jobs were their top concern and would have the “biggest impact” on how they vote, according to the most recent Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll conducted by Morning Consult. Another 41% said inflation was their top issue.
The two issues far outweighed other concerns listed by voters. Next on the list was corruption, which 27% of voters said would be their top concern heading into the midterms.
Just 23% said immigration while another 23% cited family values, morality and faith, according to the survey. Fourteen percent said a candidate’s stance on the Iran war, either for or against, would have the biggest impact on their vote.
Roughly 6% of voters noted their top issue wasn’t listed as an option while 3% simply said they were unsure what their biggest issue would be.
At the same time, voters were increasingly unsure which party they’d be more likely to back on a general ballot.
When asked about past elections — including races for president, governor, Congress, the state Legislature and other local offices — most Utahns (43%) said they backed all or nearly all Republican candidates compared to 28% who said the same for Democratic candidates.
Just 21% said they had supported a mix of candidates in the past while 8% said they were unsure. But that number of uncertain voters nearly doubled when looking ahead to the midterm elections, the poll shows.
About 14% of voters said they were not sure which way they would vote on a general ballot, an increase of 6 percentage points.
Meanwhile, those who said they’d back all or nearly all Republican candidates dropped to 39% while those supporting Democratic candidates had a slight increase to 31%, according to the survey. Just 16% said they’d likely have a mix of Republicans and Democrats, a 5-point drop.
Still, experts say it’s not indicative of a “major partisan shift,” noting Republicans still have a clear advantage. But the number of voters who are unsure is an interesting data point, says Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah.
“It suggests more Utahns are uncertain about this election than they have been about their choices in the past,” Perry told the Deseret News. “Some of that could reflect the broader frustration we’re seeing with incumbents and the political environment generally. In a midterm election, particularly in competitive races, even relatively small shifts can matter.”
Those sentiments come as control of Congress will be up for grabs in November, with both the House and Senate on the line. While Republicans currently hold majorities in both chambers, those margins are slim and will hinge on just a handful of tossup races.
The poll conducted by Morning Consult surveyed 789 registered voters in Utah between Aug. 6-11. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
