- Lynne Holt, Policy Analyst, Bob Graham Center for Public Service
As the presidential election on November 8 rapidly approaches, we might wonder what issues are most important to Florida voters. We might also wonder how, if at all, these issues have changed in importance to Florida’s voters from April through September of 2016, when the general election campaigns were ramping up. This paper provides a snapshot of registered voters’ responses to questions in both months using survey data collected by the UF Survey Research Center (UFSRC) at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, University of Florida.
Among five policy issues (economy, health care, immigration, tax policy and threat of terrorism) voters were asked about in April and September, the economy was considered the most important in informing their choice of president, followed by a concern for health care and the threat of terrorism in close proportions. There were some partisan differences with respect to responses. Health care was considered more important to Democrats and Independents than to Republicans and the threat of terrorism was considered more important to Republicans than to Democrats. Independents seemed to be more concerned about it in September than in April, perhaps as a result of intervening terrorist attacks and rhetoric on the campaign trail. The economy was considered the most important issue regardless of the respondents’ party affiliations. Immigration was considered more important to Republicans than to Democrats and Independents and tax policy was cited by the fewest respondents as the most important issue, regardless of political affiliation. Read More