Researchers reveal key findings on economic and political stress from national voter opinion survey

Researchers at the University of South Florida have released findings from a nationwide survey measuring attitudes on several key election issues. The survey, sponsored by USF’s Cyber ​​Florida, looks at how Americans feel about issues like the economy, election fairness and political stress.

Among the results:

American voters express strong support for many of Vice President Kamala Harris’ key economic policy proposals, but they are divided on former President Donald Trump’s proposal to increase tariffs on imported goods.

• While 43 percent of registered voters support Trump’s proposal to increase tariffs on imported goods, 41 percent oppose the measure (16 percent say “not sure”).
• In contrast, a majority (85%) of voters support expanding tax benefits for low- and middle-income households (including 88% of Democrats, 79% of Republicans, and 86% of independents).
• Three-quarters (76%) of registered voters support increasing taxes on the wealthiest individuals (including 92% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans), while 70% support increasing taxes on corporations (including majorities across both parties and independents).
• A significant majority (80%) also supports Trump’s proposal to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits.
• Two-thirds of voters, including 84% of Democrats, 65% of independents and 50% of Republicans, said they support Harris’ proposal to provide tax credits to first-time homebuyers.

Most voters agree that this year’s presidential election will significantly impact the economy’s progress, but Democrats and Republicans are divided on the economy’s current strength.

• 70 percent of voters, including 72 percent of Democrats and 78 percent of Republicans, agree that November’s elections “will have a significant impact on the strength of the economy.” (In comparison, only 62% independent voters said the same).
• While 51 percent of registered voters described the current U.S. economy as at least “somewhat strong,” only 32 percent of independents and 17 percent of Republicans said the same.

During this election year, politics has been a chronic source of stress for two in three Americans.

• 20% of registered voters described politics as a “major source of stress,” while another 46% described politics as at least a “minor source of stress.”
• Political stress has remained fairly consistent throughout 2024, despite significant and disruptive events such as the attempted assassination of Trump and Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race.
• 16% of Americans say they have lost sleep over politics in the past month, while 27% say politics has caused conflict between them and their friends/family members.

There has been a small but notable increase in voters’ focus on abortion and social policy issues in the past three months. While immigration remains among the top three issues on voters’ minds, its importance has declined since its peak in August.

• 28% of voters identified abortion as one of the top three issues affecting how they vote this November; this rate increased by 7 percentage points from 21% in August.
• 37% of voters identified immigration as one of the top three issues influencing how they vote (down from 51% in August).
• Inflation remained top of mind for voters; 50% named it among the top three issues influencing how they vote.

Democrats have seen a slight increase in their overall superiority advantage over Republicans in recent months.

• 44% of voters had at least a “somewhat favorable” opinion of the Democratic Party; In August, this rate was 41%. 43% said they had a “negative” opinion of the Democratic Party.
• 36 percent of voters said they had at least a “somewhat favorable” view of the Republican Party, while 49 percent said they had a “unfavorable” view of the GOP. Both figures are unchanged from those observed in August 2024.

With a week until election day, most voters say they have confidence in the integrity of the upcoming election. However, a significant portion of Republican voters continue to question whether the 2024 elections will be fair.

• 71% of voters say they are confident the 2024 election will be conducted fairly; This is a slight increase compared to figures observed in previous surveys.
• But 46 percent of Republican voters say they are either “not very confident” or “not at all confident” that the election will be conducted fairly.

Voters from both major parties expressed some level of belief in many false claims about the election, but belief in misinformation was significantly higher among registered Republicans.

• 75% of Democrats and registered independents incorrectly believe that Trump personally supports the Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Project policy agenda.
• 48% of Republican voters mistakenly believe that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are stealing and eating petsincluding pets from the surrounding community.
• 75% of Republican voters incorrectly believe that the Federal Emergency Management Agency waited several days before deploying helicopters to support rescue operations in affected communities following Hurricane Helene.

The nationwide survey included a representative sample of 1,500 registered voters, conducted between October 22-27, 2024. Results are reported with a 95% confidence level and +/- 2.5% margin of error.

This report is the fourth and final quarterly survey conducted during this election year, re-emphasizing election-related stress. vote-related misinformation and the effects of inflation.