JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The economy, immigration and abortion are the top three issues for voters in the upcoming presidential election, according to a new national poll from UNF’s Public Opinion Research Lab.
The economy was the most popular response with 27% of people polled saying it is the most important issue.
Immigration and border control was second with 11%.
That was followed closely by abortion and women’s rights issues with 10%.
POLL: Read the full results of UNF’s nationwide poll
Abortion is expected to be a key issue in Florida this election cycle.
The state’s Supreme Court ruled a six-week abortion ban can go into effect on May 1.
The court also ruled voters will decide whether to expand abortion rights, with a constitutional amendment on the November ballot.
When asked whether they think policies surrounding abortion access should be decided at the national or state level, 30% said entirely at the national level, 18% said mostly at the national level, 17% said mostly at the state level and 21% said entirely at the state level.
Respondents were also asked if they would support or oppose a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks, except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. Half (50%) said they would support such a ban either strongly or somewhat, while 40% oppose it and 10% said they do not know or refused to answer.
Candidate favorability and voter enthusiasm were two other focuses of the poll.
A majority of people surveyed had unfavorable opinions of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Biden had the lowest favorability with 39% of people saying they either have a strongly or somewhat favorable opinion of him and 57% saying they have an unfavorable opinion of Biden.
Of those who responded, 43% said they have a favorable opinion of Trump, while 54% said they have an unfavorable opinion.
Not surprisingly, voters didn’t express a lot of enthusiasm about heading to the polls for the presidential election.
Of those who responded, 32% said they are not enthusiastic at all, 33% said they are somewhat enthusiastic and 33% said they are very enthusiastic.
“It’s no surprise that people aren’t particularly excited about the election, given the low favorability of the candidates,” said Dr. Michael Binder with UNF. “Enthusiasm is highest among 2024 Trump voters and, unsurprisingly, lowest among third-party and undecided voters. A whopping 40% of self-reported Biden voters in 2024 are not at all enthusiastic about voting for him -- which could lead to a turnout problem for Democrats in the fall.”
If Trump is convicted of a crime in any of the pending legal cases against him, 67% of likely voters said it would not change their vote, 4% of likely Trump voters say a conviction would sway them to switch their vote to Biden and 6% of voters who voted for Biden in 2020 said they would opt to vote for Trump in 2024.
Trump won Florida in 2016 and 2020.
Binder said it is unclear whether the abortion issue alone will be enough for the Biden campaign to tip the scales.
“With the repeal of Roe and the passage of restrictive abortion laws in multiple states, (abortion) has been a top issue across the country,” said Binder, “whether or not that issue alone is enough to propel Biden to victory in November is another story.”