Despite concerns about the economy and other issues, illegal immigration topped the list of
problems that voters want the new president to solve.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 32% of Likely U.S. Voters say illegal immigration is the most important issue for the next president to solve, while 27% said rising prices were most important. Twenty-four percent (24%) consider protecting our democracy the most important job for the next president, while 14% say abortion rights.
The survey – taken just before Election Day – found a nearly 2-to-1 consensus on the question made famous by Ronald Reagan in 1980, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” Fifty-nine percent (59%) of voters said NO, compared to 33% who said yes. Similarly, when asked if today’s children will be better off than their parents, 52% answered NO, while just 20% said yes and 28% were not sure.
The survey of 1,800 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on October 30-31 and November 3, 2024 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.
While 52% of Democrats said they were better off than they were four years ago, that opinion was shared by just 14% of Republicans and 30% of voters unaffiliated with either major party. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of Republicans, 39% of Democrats and 59% of unaffiliated voters said they were not better off.
Forty-nine percent (49%) of Republicans, 18% of Democrats and 31% of unaffiliated voters say illegal immigration is the most important issue for the next president to solve. Thirty percent (30%) of Republicans, 21% of Democrats and 31% of unaffiliated voters say rising prices are the most important issue for the next president. More than half of Democrats considered the most important issue for the next president to solve to be either protecting our democracy (33%) or abortion rights (25%).
Majorities of both men and women voters named either illegal immigration or rising prices should be the next president’s most important issue to solve. However, women voters (18%) were significantly more likely than men (10%) to consider abortion rights the most important issue.
Majorities of every racial category answered no to the question “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” Black voters were most likely to believe today’s children will be better off than their parents.
Voters under 40 were most likely to see rising prices as the most important issue for the next president to solve, while those 65 and older were most likely to consider illegal immigration the most important issue.
Among voters who said they’re not better off than they were four years ago, 45% think the next president’s most important issue to solve is illegal immigration. Among those who said they are better off than they were four years ago, 48% believe protecting democracy is the most important issue for the next president.
Breaking down the electorate by income categories, voters earning less than $50,000 a year were most likely to say they aren’t better off than they were four years ago. Those in the highest bracket – with annual incomes above $200,000 – were most likely to view the next president’s most important issue as protecting democracy.
2024 Election
Donald Trump
Economy
illegal immigration
poll results
exit polls
likely voters survey
public opinion
abortion
protecting democracy
inflation
voter categories
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