The purpose of this Utah Priorities Survey is to delve deeper on five critical policy issues to better understand voters’ preferences surrounding the most often discussed solutions. Voters were surveyed about K-12 education, economy and jobs, immigration, government spending, and states’ rights. The survey also asked voters about whom they plan to vote for in the upcoming election.
In response to questions about K-12 education, the most popular solution was that resources be applied to ensure every student is reading at grade-level by the end of third grade. Other solutions that received high scores were reducing class size and applying resources to help 8th-graders successfully complete math and science courses.
Regarding the economy, Utah voters most strongly agree that the government should lower taxes on small businesses to stimulate job growth. Other popular solutions include investing more in educating and preparing people to be skilled, productive workers and reducing federal regulation on businesses. The solution that Utah voters most disagree with is extending unemployment benefits to 99 weeks.
On immigration, Utah voters would mandate that English be the official language of the United States. They do not agree with allowing unauthorized immigrants to stay in Utah. However, the solution with the second highest level of disapproval is amending the Constitution to prevent children from automatically becoming citizens if born on U.S. soil. Nevertheless, an equally high percent of voters strongly agree with this solution as well, illustrating how polarizing this issue is.
For solutions relating to government spending, Utah voters most strongly feel that federal government spending should be reduced to bring the budget into balance. When thinking of shared responsibilities between the state and federal government, Utah voters most agree with the idea that Utah should be free to make its own decisions on wilderness and open space without federal involvement.
Candidate questions show that if Senator Bob Bennett had been able to run as an independent, he would capture 32 percent of the vote today, while Mike Lee is favored by 37 percent.
See the full data report by Dan Jones and Associates (it’s crosstab heaven for political junkies)