Fox News Poll: GOP maintains advantage on top issues, but Democrats show some momentum

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The economy is the most important issue facing the country, according to almost 4 in 10 voters, with immigration/border security coming in a distant second.

That’s according to the latest Fox News survey released Sunday.

Out of a list of nine issues, 36% say the economy is the country’s top priority (down from 42% in December).  Coming in second is immigration/border security (13%), followed by climate change (10%), guns (9%), crime (7%), health care (7%), voting rights/election integrity (7%), abortion (5%), and foreign policy (4%).

Fox News Poll shows which issue is most important to American voters now vs December 2022.  (Fox News Polls)

Democrats and Republicans agree, to varying degrees, the economy is the top problem, but that’s where the similarities end. For Democrats, the top issues are the economy (28%), climate change (18%), and guns (16%), while for Republicans only the economy (43%), and immigration/border security (24%) reach double digits.

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Fox News Poll shows where Democrats and Republicans stand on each key issue.  (Fox News Polls)

Voters see Republicans as better able to handle border security (by 24 points), national security (+16), the economy (+15), the federal budget deficit (+12), immigration (+10), and foreign policy and taxes (+8 points each).

Fox News Poll shows which issues the Republican Party handles better than the Democratic Party, according to voters. (Fox News Polls)

Democrats are preferred on climate change (by 28 points), health care (+23), Medicare (+23), abortion (+20), Social Security (+16), energy policies (+13), voting rights (+9), election integrity (+7), and school curriculum (+5).

Fox News Poll from February 2023 shows issues that Democrats handle better than Republicans. (Fox News)

While Republicans have the advantage on the top two issues, the Democrats’ issue advantages are larger and suggest a competitive issue environment heading into the 2024 election cycle. 

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"This is the same pattern that played out in the midterms, with Republicans having a significant advantage on the top issue, but Democrats clobbering them on a constellation of smaller ones," says Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, who conducts the Fox News poll with Republican Daron Shaw.  "Clearly, perceptions of where the economy is heading next year will be critical to 2024 elections and an improving economy will be a problem for Republicans."

Eight in 10 voters say the economy is in dismal condition (22% rate it positively), and over half (57%) say they have less money in their pocket compared to last year (31% say about the same, 12% have more).

The parties are rated about the same on opioid addiction (D +3) and gun policy (D +1).

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Democrats saw increases in support on abortion (+14 points), climate change (+8), and health care (+6) since October.  That’s mostly attributable to increased support from Republicans.

A split image of President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Democrats also flipped support on energy policies.  In October, Republicans held the advantage by 4 points, where voters now think Democrats can better handle the issue by 13.

Support for Republicans on their other issues have held steady.

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"The political environment heading into the next election cycle is fluid," says Shaw. "The Republicans still hold the edge on the top issues, but the Democrats have broad support across a wide range of issues that seem to be rising in salience."

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Conducted Feb. 19-22, 2023, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll included interviews with 1,006 registered voters nationwide who were randomly selected from a voter file and spoke with live interviewers on both landlines and cellphones. The total sample has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.