Voters’ choice of which party they have more confidence in to handle education has been a frequent topic of this newsletter. While there have been points at which education has been a more competitive issue — the most recent of which was shortly after former Governor Glenn Youngkin’s election in Virginia in the midst of a national debate over Covid school closures and parents’ role in education —the issue has typically been more of a Democratic stronghold. In In our latest survey for Winning the Issues (September 12-16, 1000 registered voters), we again looked at which party voters had more confidence in to handle education.
The issue position has not changed much since the beginning of the year. Overall, a 51% majority prefers Democrats, while 35% prefer Republicans, a 16-point margin. Among independents, 54% prefer Democrats and 25% prefer Republicans. That’s a 29-point margin, but about one in five independents (21%) are undecided between the two parties.
One key piece of context is that, when it comes to their respective brand images, both parties are under water with the electorate, and have been for some time. Currently, Republicans’ brand image stands at 39-58 favorable-unfavorable, while Democrats’ stands at 40-56. Independents are even more negative, at 27-69 favorable-unfavorable for Congressional Republicans and 32-64 for Congressional Democrats. Twenty-five percent of the electorate has an unfavorable view of both parties. Among independents, that share climbs to 44%. Some of their negative view is reflected in the education issue handling as a relatively high share of independents selected neither party (21%). Still, the fact remains that, despite their relatively low standing with the electorate, Democrats have managed to maintain a consistent lead on the issue of education.
