The big issue ‘hurting everyone’ that will define the 2024 election, according to Americans
Fox News Digital spoke with voters across more than a dozen states about the issues driving their vote. The economy emerged as the top concern.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News Digital spoke with voters across the country leading up to the 2024 presidential election about their top issues when heading to the ballot box. Answers varied, but one theme held strong from sea to shining sea.
"Inflation is hurting everyone," Naji, a restaurant owner in Birmingham, Michigan, said. "We need someone that's going to bring us back to what we were before."
The cost of living is "unacceptable," "outrageous" and "way too high," in the words of Wisconsin, Oregon and Washington, D.C. voters.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News Digital spoke with voters in more than a dozen states ahead of the 2024 presidential election. From California and Oregon all the way east to New York and Florida, cost of living and immigration emerged as top concerns when heading to the ballot box. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)
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"I'm at the grocery store every day because I'm pinching, trying to figure out like, ‘Hey, do I need this? Can I buy this? Can I afford this?’ Because everything's just skyrocketing," Tea in Tempe, Arizona, said last month.
The economy has consistently outranked all other issues, according to Fox News Polls, with 40% calling it their most important issue in deciding their choice for president.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Right now we are in a crisis," Angelica in Milwaukee said. But one which no single presidential administration is responsible for, she added. "It's a ripple effect of the different terms that led up to this one, so we can't put all the blame on Biden and on his campaign."
Other voters said border security was among their top concerns.
"They got a whole lot of immigrants out here from different places. The same thing Trump was talking about a long time ago — it's happened," Pak said in New York City.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An open border is "not sustainable," Pablo, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from South America, told Fox News Digital in Chicago.
"It's like a looming issue that's just gonna haunt us until you know, something gets done about it," he said.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Donna, who was protesting outside a campaign event for GOP Senate hopeful Sam Brown last month in Las Vegas, had several priorities including safeguarding legal abortion.
"Even though abortion is protected in Nevada for right now, it's a key issue when I'm talking to other people who are voting," she said.
Several college students added global unrest to the list of their concerns, with priorities that included a ceasefire in Gaza and avoiding U.S. involvement in new wars.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Be a peace candidate, not a pro-war candidate, and then crack down on immigration. That would win my vote," Giacomo, a student at Marquette University in Milwaukee, told Fox News Digital.
Voters across the country listed the economy and immigration among their top concerns ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Less frequently, abortion, democracy and foreign conflicts were cited as voters' biggest issues. (Fox News Digital)
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In Pennsylvania, where candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have been campaigning heavily in the final days before the election, Diane listed the economy, immigration and "just keeping democracy intact," as her top issues.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Diane plans to vote for the Trump-Vance ticket, but most Americans who cited "democracy" as their top concern were staunchly opposed to the former president.
"He is a doctor of chaos, and it's ruining our country," said Mary from Phoenix, whose biggest priority was ensuring Trump doesn't get re-elected.