NY voters rank one issue above others as their biggest concern

Rising costs is the issue many New York voters are concerned about the most as they prepare to cast their votes on Nov. 8. That’s according to a NewsChannel 13-SurveyUSA poll released Thursday.

Inflation is the top issue for 35% of the likely voters who responded to the poll. Crime follows at 18% and abortion at 15%.

Breaking it down by party, 42% of Republicans said inflation was their top issue, compared to 27% of Democrats, and 39% of independent voters.

Most New Yorkers aren’t encouraged about the economic outlook for their family over the next year – 44% say they’re pessimistic, 35% are optimistic, and 21% aren’t sure.

Nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers say Gov. Hochul needs to do more to help people out of work in New York.

After inflation, crime was next most-important issue to Republicans, with 29% saying it was their biggest concern.

For Democrats, their biggest concern after inflation is abortion, with 24% saying that was their top issue.

Political science expert Ron Seyb of Skidmore College said voters who are concerned about crime and inflation are more likely to vote Republican.

“Republicans have in a very premeditated fashion, and I think effective fashion, really foregrounded the crime issue, in New York and nationally too,” Seyb said.

But Seyb says it’s more important to measure how much people care about those individual issues. That, he says, is a good measure of which issues will get people out to vote.

For example, NewsChannel 13 asked people to rank how important the overturning of Roe vs. Wade is in their vote for governor, with one being not important and 10 being most important. Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed rated the Roe decision from an 8 to 10. Thirty-one percent rated it as a 10. Among women, 67% rated it from an 8 to 10.

Intensity of preference is the best predictor of turnout, Seyb says.

“Those people who do care about abortion care intensely about it. And they will probably come out to vote on that issue. So there’s always this question of not just preference, but intensity of preference,” he said.

When it comes to guns, 62% say New York’s laws should become stricter. A majority, 71%, strongly support or somewhat support a ban on assault weapons.

The poll also asked about New York’s concealed laws – 31% say they’re too loose, 25% say they’re too restrictive, and 22% say they’re just right.