In the latest survey for Winning the Issues (June 12-14; 1,000 registered voters) we took another look at the party voters have more confidence in to handle education. Overall, voters prefer the Democratic Party by a margin of 14 (36-50 Republican Party-Democratic Party), little changed from the April survey, when it was a +15 for the Democratic Party (36-51).
As for those numbers by party, Democrats overwhelmingly prefer the Democratic Party (5-88 R-D). While Republicans tend to overwhelmingly prefer the Republican Party (78-12), about one in five (22%) either prefers the Democratic Party (12%) or is undecided (10%). As for independents, a 52% majority now say they prefer the Democratic Party (25-52), an increase from the April survey (26-49). The last time that independents had more than 50% prefer the Democratic Party on education was November 2011 (24-55).
As we’ve mentioned before, the last time Republicans and Democrats were tied on education was April 2022 (42-42 Republican Party-Democratic Party). Around that time, much of the debate had defined in the Virginia governor’s race, in which Governor Glenn Youngkin had come to be seen as offering a substantive Republican alternative on the issue. The contrast was particularly highlighted in his opponent Terry McAuliffe’s unfortunate remark in an October 2021 debate that “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” which proved to be a turning point. After his inauguration, Youngkin took on a number of education issues, including signing the Virginia Literacy Act in 2022.
Yet in the years since, Republicans as a whole have failed to define the positive alternative vision they are offering on education. Arguably, this vision must include a plan for improving student outcomes. This is a large part of the reason why when it comes to education, Republicans are failing to attract voters beyond their base.
