Democrats and Republicans in Florida are sharply divided over key issues in this year’s election, but those in both parties do agree on one thing — improving the economy is at or near the top of their list.
Overall, the state of the economy ranks as the No. 1 concern at 89 percent for all voters in the Sunshine State, according to a recent CBS poll. Ninety-six percent of Republicans said it’s the most important problem and 82 percent of Democrats agreed.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce may have once called Florida the “national model for economic growth,” but voters interviewed by Caplin News beg to differ.
“Me, my husband, my family, we all are business owners – what’s been going on has killed the economy,” said 33-year-old Republican Melissa Capiro, who is planning on voting for former President Donald Trump in November.
“The inflation is crazy,” she added. “I have a child and just things that are basic necessities for him are almost unobtainable.”
While the polls and voter interviews were conducted before President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race, it’s unlikely that the issue of top concern to voters will change significantly regardless of whether Vice President Kamala Harris becomes the Democratic nominee as is expected.
On several other key issues besides the economy in the 2024 contest, Republicans and Democrats don’t see eye to eye.
After the economy, Florida Republicans rank as their top issues the state of democracy, immigration and abortion. For Democrats, the state of democracy was their most important priority, just beating out the economy by the narrowest of margins, followed by abortion and immigration.
The state of democracy is the third highest issue of concern to all voters with 74 percent of Floridians saying that growing threats to democracy will impact who they cast their vote for in November, according to the CBS poll. The issue ranks highest amongst Democrats at 83 percent and at 67 percent for Republicans.
Republicans and Democrats also have starkly different views about the importance of immigration as an issue in the upcoming election.
According to the Pew Research Center, the U.S. Border Patrol had nearly 250,000 encounters with migrants in December 2023 alone. Twice as many Republicans (87 percent) as Democrats (38 percent) rank immigration as a major concern.
“Immigration, the economy, top two,” said Melissa Gil, 26, an accounts manager. “The last four years have not been what I was told in the last election. I have done my research and I am now going Republican.” Gil voted for Biden in 2020, but speaking in an interview before the president dropped out of the race, she’s said she’s been disappointed with Biden’s first term.
Given the importance of immigration to many voters and its prominence as a GOP campaign theme — in his nomination speech at the Republican convention, for instance, Trump cited “a massive invasion at our southern border that has spread misery, crime, poverty, disease and destruction to communities all across our land” — experts said it’s no surprise that Biden recently tried to address the issue while he was still a candidate.
“That’s why you saw Biden did what he did, passing an executive order about asylum seekers at the border,” said Stephen Neely, Master of Public Administration program Director and Associate Professor at the University of South Florida, referring to Biden’s order in early June suspending entry of migrants entering the U.S. illegally.
“It’s not something he wanted to do or something that’s ever been part of his platform,” Neely added. “He’s just trying to show voters, ‘I’m doing something on the issue you care about.’”
Abortion, ranked as an issue of importance by 53 percent of all voters, is another issue sharply dividing voters in Florida, polls have found.
Biden, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now seeking the Democratic nomination for president following Biden’s decision to quit the race, has focused his attacks on Trump and the Republicans over the issue. At the same time, Trump has tried to soften his and the GOP’s position on abortion, saying it should be left up to the states and that he wouldn’t sign a national ban if re-elected.
Seventy-eight percent of Democrats say abortion will be the driving force of their voting, while less than half that number, 38 percent, of Republicans say it’s their major concern, according to CBS.
“Social issues are always of the utmost importance to me,” said 32-year-old Democrat Marie Ferguson, “My primary concern is the candidate being able to do the job and definitely women’s rights to choose what she wants to do with her body.”
Given the sharp split over some key issues, it’s perhaps not a surprise that some voters believe uniting the country is a main concern.
“The overall tone in the country is negative,” said 22-year-old Mya Vazquez, a Florida International University student and member of the conservative group Turning Point USA’s Biscayne Bay chapter. “People are very divided and everyday gets worse. It’s very partisan and very ‘my team versus your team.’”
