“I am worried if we Democrats are focused on just the choice issue, then that’s not enough,” Rebecca McNichol, Pennsylvania executive director of progressive candidate training firm Emerge, said in an interview. She said that Pennsylvania Democratic candidates must also campaign on “the bread-and-butter issues that are noticeable for families,” noting that gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro is setting an example.
Several recent polls underscore McNichol’s concern. While a majority of Pennsylvania’s likely voters say that abortion should be legal to some extent in a recent Muhlenberg College poll, for instance, 34% see the economy and inflation as a top issue, compared to 20% for abortion. Emerson College’s recent poll shows that 45% of likely Pennsylvania voters believe the economy is most important, and only 14% say that of abortion. Marist’s latest poll shows abortion is “top of mind” for 16% of voters, while 40% put inflation first and 29% said preserving democracy.
Emerson, Marist, and Fox News’s latest Pennsylvania poll also show a mere 10%, 11%, and 11%, of independent likely voters prioritizing abortion, respectively, which is nearly identical to Republicans.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member