RALEIGH, N.C. — Economy-linked issues dominate what North Carolinians call very important as the midterm campaign enters its final weeks, according to a Catawba College-YouGov survey released Thursday by the Center for North Carolina Politics and Public Service.
Inflation and rising prices ranked first, with 78 percent of respondents calling them very important. The economy and jobs followed at 77 percent. Health care was third at 72 percent, then Social Security and Medicare at 69 percent and taxes and federal spending at 65 percent.
Michael Bitzer, director of the center and a professor of politics and history, said affordability leads the list and that domestic concerns are driving importance ratings for most North Carolinians this campaign season. Rising prices and inflation topped concerns across party lines, from 73 percent of Republicans to 79 percent of independents and 81 percent of Democrats.
A second tier of issues centered on democracy and civic life. Protecting democracy was very important to 64 percent, followed by voting rights at 63 percent, division in the country at 58 percent and election security at 55 percent. Bitzer noted deep partisan gaps on those democracy-related items, including a 17-point partisan gap on voting rights and an 11-point gap on protecting democracy.
Crime was the only other issue outside the top economic and democracy clusters to draw a majority saying it was very important, at 54 percent in one summary of the results. The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted online Sept. 4-15 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.68 percent. Foreign-policy topics ranked near the bottom of the importance list.
