Top Issues for Voters


The five opinion polls below show what issues Americans care about in the 2020 presidential election. See the issues that matter most to Democrats, Republicans, and independents, and to voters overall.

1. Climate Nexus in partnership with Yale and George Mason University

2. Harvard University Center for American Political Studies and The Harris Poll

3. Gallup Poll

4. Hill-HarrisX Poll

5. Pew Research Center's American Trends Panel



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1. Climate Nexus in partnership with Yale and George Mason University
The Climate Nexus poll asked, "Below are some issues that may factor into deciding your vote for President in November 2020. In making your decision about who to vote for, which two issues are the most important to your vote? Please select two issues."


Top 3 Issues by Political Affiliation

1. Democrats: health care (43%), climate change (29%), economy and jobs/Trump's record as president (20%)

2. Republicans: economy and jobs (33%), immigration (30%), healthcare (24%)

3. Independents: health care (36%), economy and jobs (29%), climate change (19%)


Issue All Voters Democrats Independents Republicans
1. Health care
34%
43%
36%
24%
2. Economy and jobs
27% 20%
29%
33%
3. Immigration
19% 10%
15%
30%
4. Social Security
19%
18%
17%
20%
5. Climate change
18%
29%
19%
6%
6. Trump's record as president
18% 20%
14%
17%
7. Gun policy
13% 15%
11%
11%
8. Federal taxes and spending
12% 10%
16%
14%
9. Terrorism
12% 7%
11%
17%
10. Education
9% 10%
12%
7%
11. Abortion
7% 6%
6%
9%
12. Foreign policy
5% 5%
8%
5%
13. Supreme Court
4% 4%
3%
4%
14. Opioid epidemic
2% 2%
2%
3%

Date: Feb. 6-9, 2020

N=1,934 registered voters in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington (states with Democratic primaries scheduled between Feb. 22, 2020 and Mar. 17, 2020)

Margin of error: +/- 2.3%


2. Harvard University Center for American Political Studies and The Harris Poll
The Jan. 2020 monthly Harvard-Harris Poll asked, "What would you say are the most important issues facing the country today? Please select three."


Top 3 Issues by Political Affiliation

1. Democrats: health care (47%), environment / climate change (33%), guns (27%)

2. Republicans: immigration (43%), terrorism / national security (41%), health care (28%)

3. Independents: health care (38%), immigration (26%), economy and jobs (25%)


Issue All Voters Democrats Independents Republicans
1. Health care
38%
47%
38%
28%
2. Immigration
29% 21%
26%
43%
3. Terrorism / national security
26% 18%
22%
41%
4. Economy and jobs
24%
21%
25%
26%
5. Environment / climate change
23%
33%
24%
11%
6. Guns
19% 27%
16%
12%
7. National debt / federal budget deficits
19% 12%
24%
22%
8. Corruption
15% 14%
18%
13%
9. Crime and drugs
13% 12%
12%
16%
10. Taxes
12% 11%
13%
16%
11. Education
11% 13%
11%
10%
12. Income inequality
11% 13%
11%
10%
13. Foreign Policy
9% 7%
10%
9%
14. School safety
8% 9%
8%
6%
15. Race relations
8% 10%
7%
5%
16. Criminal justice (policing, courts, prisons)
7% 8%
6%
7%
17. Cybersecurity
7% 5%
7%
9%
18. Defense
7% 5%
6%
10%
19. Women's rights
6% 8%
6%
5%
20. Political correctness
6% 3%
7%
8%
21. Other
2% 2%
3%
2%

Date: Jan. 27-29, 2020

N=2,527 registered voters

Margin of error: not specified


3. Gallup Poll
Gallup's "Importance of Issues to U.S. Adults' Votes in 2020 Presidential Election" poll asked respondents to rate 16 issues on how important they were as a factor in deciding who to vote for in the presidential election. The table below shows what percentage of people rated the issues as "extremely important."


Top 3 Issues by Political Affiliation

1. Democrats: health care (49%), gun policy (46%), climate change (44%)

2. Republicans: terrorism and national security (38%), the economy (30%), immigration (30%)

3. Independents: health care (36%), terrorism and national security (33%), education (33%)

Issue All Voters Democrats Independents Republicans
1. Health care
35%
49%
36%
22%
2. Terrorism and national security
34% 33%
33%
38%
3. Gun policy
34% 46%
31%
26%
4. Education
33%
43%
33%
23%
5. The economy
30%
30%
29%
30%
6. Immigration
28% 28%
26%
30%
7. Climate change
26% 44%
27%
8%
8. Abortion
25% 23%
25%
28%
9. The distribution of income and wealth in the US
25% 37%
25%
12%
10. The federal budget deficit
23% 22%
26%
23%
11. Taxes
23% 24%
23%
21%
12. Race relations
23% 33%
24%
11%
13. The nation's infrastructure
22% 28%
22%
17%
14. Foreign affairs
21% 27%
23%
15%
15. Trade with other nations
18% 21%
19%
15%
16. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights
11% 18%
11%
5%

Date: Dec. 2-15, 2019

N=1,025 randomly sampled US adults age 18+

Margin of error: +/- 4.0%


4. Hill-HarrisX Poll
The nationwide poll conducted by The Hill and HarrisX asked, "What is the most important issue facing the nation today?"


Top 3 Issues by Political Affiliation

1. Democrats: health care (17%), environment / climate change (11%), guns (11%)

2. Republicans: terrorism / national security (19%), immigration (17%), health care (15%)

3. Independents: health care (12%), terrorism / national security (11%), economy and jobs and environment / climate change (tied at 10%)


Issue All Voters Democrats Independents Republicans
1. Health care
15%
17%
12%
15%
2. Terrorism / national security
12% 8%
11%
19%
3. Immigration
10% 4%
9%
17%
4. Economy and jobs
10%
8%
10%
14%
5. Environment / climate change
8%
11%
10%
4%
6. Guns
7% 11%
7%
1%
7. Corruption
6% 3%
9%
5%
8. National debt / federal budget deficits
4% 4%
5%
4%
9. Crime and drugs
4% 5%
3%
5%
10. Other
4% 4%
6%
3%
11. Education
3% 4%
2%
4%
12. Income inequality
3% 3%
4%
1%
13. School safety
3% 5%
4%
1%
14. Race relations
2% 5%
0%
0%
15. Women's rights
2% 4%
2%
1%
16. Criminal justice (policing, courts, prisons)
2% 2%
2%
1%
17. Foreign Policy
1% 1%
1%
1%
18. Cybersecurity
1% 1%
1%
2%
19. Political correctness
1% 0%
1%
1%
20. Defense
0% 0%
0%
1%

Date: Dec. 8-9, 2019

N=1,000 registered voters

Margin of error: +/- 3.1%


5. Pew Research Center's American Trends Panel
The Pew Research Center asked participants which issues are a "very big problem facing the country."


Top 3 Issues by Political Affiliation

1. Democrats: affordability of health care (77%), climate change (73%), economic inequality (66%)

2. Republicans: drug addiction (68%), illegal immigration (67%), federal budget deficit (54%)

Data for independents not available.


Issue All Voters Democrats Republicans
1. Affordability of health care
66%
77%
51%
2. Drug addiction
64% 61%
68%
3. Affordability of a college education
55% 65%
43%
4. Federal budget deficit
53%
52%
54%
5. Climate change
48%
73%
17%
6. Economic inequality
44% 66%
19%
7. Racism
43% 62%
21%
8. Illegal immigration
43% 23%
67%
9. Terrorism
39% 36%
41%
10. Sexism
26% 36%
14%
11. Job opportunities for all Americans
25% 34%
14%

Date: Sep. 3-15, 2019

N=9,895 randomly selected US adults

Margin of error: +/- 1.5%