WESA-Campos Survey: April ’24 Primary Elections

Campos and 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR News Station, are partnering on a series of short opinion surveys of adults in the Pittsburgh region to better understand their opinions on a range of timely topics. This joint research and reporting project will ensure WESA can tap into the opinions of people in Pittsburgh on a regular basis and use the corresponding results to complement its reporting. (For more information, or to sign up to participate, click here.)

In the fifth round of the WESA/Campos Pulse Survey, we explored Pittsburgh area residents’ attitudes and intentions with regard to the April 2024 primary elections. (The survey was conducted ~2 weeks before the election.) Below are a few highlights.

Key Findings

Most Pittsburgh area residents (88%) are at least somewhat likely to vote in the upcoming primary election, and more than half (57%) have been paying attention to the primary elections “a good deal” or more, this year.

  • 96% of respondents self-identified as registered to vote in PA.

  • Based on self-report, 88% of respondents were at least “somewhat” likely to vote in the April 2024 primary election—with 77% “very likely.”

  • 81% of respondents reported that they had been paying attention to local elections this year at least “a moderate amount.” More specifically, that included:

    • 22% paying attention “completely”

    • 35% paying attention “a good deal”

    • 24% paying attention “a moderate amount”

  • Older respondents reported being much more likely to vote in the upcoming primary election than younger respondents, with 87% of respondents ages 65+ saying they were “very likely” to vote compared to 58% of respondents ages 18-34.

While the majority of Pittsburghers believe elections, especially national elections, have a great deal of impact on their life, they’re less certain of the impact their vote has on elections.

  • 59% of respondents said local elections have “a great deal” of impact on their life. 58% said the same about state elections, and 68% said national elections have a great deal of impact.

    • Respondents ages 65+ were much more likely than younger respondents to say state and national elections have a great deal of impact on their life (and also a little more likely to say so for local elections).

  • A plurality of respondents said they, personally, could only have “somewhat” of an impact on local, state, and national elections.

    • 48% of respondents said they can make somewhat of an impact on local elections. 55% said the same about state elections, and 46% said the same about national elections.

    • A notable minority felt they could not make any impact personally—14% for local elections, 15% for state elections, and 22% for national elections.

    • Respondents feel they have the most opportunity to make an impact on local elections (39% said they could make a great deal of impact), compared to state (29%) and national (31%) elections.

    • Those who are paying more attention to elections are much more likely to think than can have a great deal of impact compared to those paying no attention or only a moderate amount (e.g., 41% of those paying attention say they can have a great impact on national elections, vs. 10% of those slightly or not at all paying attention).

Economic issues are the top driver of voters’ choices in both local/state and national elections, followed by women’s reproductive issues.

Percentages below indicate the percent of respondents who marked that item as one of the top 3 issues “most important in deciding your vote for local or state elections.” The issues important for local and for state elections were assessed in 2 separate questions.

  • For local/state races, Pittsburgh area residents were most likely to identify “economic issues” (55%) as one of the top 3 issues important in deciding their votes.

    • This was followed by “women’s reproductive issues” (38%) and “criminal justice and/or public safety” (36%).

    • Women were much more likely to prioritize “women’s reproductive issues” than men (49% selected it as a top 3 issue, vs. 27% of men), though “economic issues” was still the top issue for women by a small margin.

  • Economic issues (56%) and reproductive issues (42%) also top the list for national races, with several other issues about tied for 3rd place (“immigration policy” at 32%, “tax policies” at 30%, “criminal justice and/or public safety” at 29%).

    • Again, women are much more likely to prioritize “women’s reproductive issues” (53% selected it as a top 3 issue, vs. 30% of men).

  • In both local/state and national races, Democrats and Republicans have very different priorities.

    • In both local/state and national races, “women’s reproductive issues” are the most important issue driving the vote for registered Democrats, with 55% of them selecting it as a top issue in local/state races and 61% selecting it as a top issue in national races. “Economic issues” come a little just behind it (47% local/state, 53% national). Every other issue is much less likely to be prioritized (i.e., less than 30%).

    • “Economic issues” rank first for registered Republicans (68% local/state, 63% national), but they also deem “immigration policy” and “criminal justice and/or public safety” nearly as important. In local/state races, 52% of Republicans chose “criminal justice and/or public safety” as a top 3 concern and 61% chose “immigration policy” as a top 3 concern. In national races those figures were 47% and 61% respectively.

Registered Democrats are somewhat more likely than registered Republicans to say their party is aligned with their views on the issues they care most about.

  • 56% of registered Democrats said their party is aligned with their views on the issues they care most about, compared to 47% of Republicans.

  • Notable minority of both parties say their party is not aligned with their views (36% of Democrats, 49% of Republicans).

    • Among registered Republicans, 30% say the party is not well aligned with them but moving closer to their views, while 19% say the party is not well aligned and moving further away from their views.

  • Those paying close attention to the elections are much more likely to say their party is well aligned with their views (56%) compared to those paying little to no attention (29%).

Looking ahead, most Pittsburgh area residents say they know who they plan to vote for in the 2024 Presidential Election.

  • When asked who they intend to vote for for President in 2024, assuming Joe Biden and Donald Trump will be the major party nominees, 77% of respondents say they “know for sure” who they will be voting for.

    • 10% say they are uncertain but leaning in one direction, and another 9% say they are completely undecided. Only 2% said they do not intend to vote for President.

  • Registered Republicans are slightly more likely than registered Democrats to be undecided.

    • While the majority of Republicans said they know for sure who they plan to vote for for President (76%), they were less certain than Democrats (85%).

  • Younger respondents are also more likely to be undecided.

    • 69% of respondents ages 18-34 years old “know for sure” who they intend to vote for for President, compared to 77% of 35-64 year olds and 85% of people ages 65+.

Survey Methodology

Fielding dates: April 1-5, 2024

Survey length: 5-8 minutes

Sample: 400 adults (age 18+) in the Pittsburgh region

  • Responses were solicited from the proprietary Campos Research Panel (10,000+ members in the Greater Pittsburgh area). Respondents were offered a chance to win one of five $50 gift cards to incentivize participation.

  • 85% of the respondents reside in Allegheny County, and about 15% reside in the adjacent 5 counties (Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Washington, Westmoreland).

  • The sample was managed to be approximately representative of the 6-county region by age, gender, and race/ethnicity. 

Screening Criteria:

  • Age is 18 or older

  • Resides in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Washington, or Westmoreland counties


About the WESA/Campos Pulse Survey: https://www.campos.com/wesa-campos-pulse

Previous
Previous

Political Market Research: Exploring How Voters Think

Next
Next

Market Research for Product Development in Healthcare & Wellness