Quinnipiac Poll: Inflation Top Midterm Issue, 1% Say Economy in ‘Excellent’ Shape

Inflation remains the top issue for Americans heading into the 2022 midterm elections, while only one percent of voters said the economy is in “excellent” shape, according to a Wednesday Quinnipiac poll.

The poll asked respondents, “In your opinion, what is the most urgent issue facing the country today: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, COVID-19, inflation, climate change, health care, racial inequality, immigration, election laws, abortion, gun violence, or crime?”

Inflation ranked first at 27 percent with no other issue reaching double digits: Gun violence (nine percent), global warming (nine percent), abortion (nine percent), immigration (eight percent), Ukrainian war (two percent), and coronavirus (one percent).

Among Republicans, the top issues were inflation (45 percent) and immigration (16 percent). No other issue reached double digits. For Democrats, the top issues were abortion (18 percent), global warming (16 percent), gun violence (16 percent), and inflation (ten percent).

Independents resembled Republicans more on some of the top issues, such as inflation (29 percent), healthcare (nine percent), global warming (nine percent), immigration (eight percent), and gun violence (eight percent).

While the top concern among Americans is inflation, the poll also asked, “Would you describe the state of the nation’s economy these days as excellent, good, not so good, or poor?”

Less than one percent of Americans said the economy was in “excellent” shape. Twenty percent said it was “good” shape, and 79 percent said it was “not so good” to “poor.”

Similarly, among registered voters, just one percent said the economy was in “excellent” shape. Twenty percent said it was “good” shape, and 79 percent said it was “not so good” to “poor.”

Among the independent registered voters who swing elections, one percent said the economy is in “excellent” shape, 16 percent said it was in “good” shape, while 83 percent said it was “not so good” to “poor” shape.

The poll included 1,419 voters with a 2.6 percent margin of error.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.