Voters in California made their pick for president while holding negative views about the country’s direction, according to an expansive AP survey of the American electorate.
The race between President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden concluded Tuesday as the nation remains in the throes of a global public health crisis and mired in the economic downturn it brought on. AP VoteCast found that 29% of California voters said the U.S. is on the right track and 71% of voters said it is headed in the wrong direction.
Here’s a snapshot of who voted and what matters to them, based on preliminary results from AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of about 133,000 voters and nonvoters — including 3,683 voters and 840 nonvoters in California — conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.
TRUMP VS BIDEN
In the race for president, Biden was preferred over Trump among both voters under 45 and older voters.
White voters, Black voters, Latino voters and Asian voters were more likely to support Biden.
Biden led among both voters without a college degree and college-educated voters.
Biden led Trump among voters in cities, suburban voters and voters in small towns and rural areas.
FACING THE PANDEMIC
The coronavirus pandemic has spread through the U.S. for roughly eight months, killing more than 230,000 Americans. Overall, 17% of voters said the virus in the U.S. is completely or mostly under control, and 27% said it’s somewhat under control. Fifty-six percent of voters think the coronavirus is not at all under control in this country.
ON THE ISSUES
The coronavirus pandemic was top of mind for many voters in California. Forty-four percent said it is the most important issue facing the country today.
Voters also considered the economy a major issue, with 25% saying it ranked at the top.
Eight percent named health care, 8% named racism and 6% named climate change.
NATIONAL ECONOMY
Voters were more negative than positive in their assessments of the nation’s economy. Overall, 32% described economic conditions in the U.S. as excellent or good, and 68% called them not so good or poor.
STAYING AT HOME
Among registered voters who chose not to cast a ballot in California, 26% said that was because they don’t like politics generally, 19% said their vote doesn’t matter and 14% said they don’t like the candidates.
In California, 75% of nonvoters were younger than 45 and 76% did not have a college degree.
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AP created this story automatically using results from AP VoteCast, a survey of the American electorate conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for Fox News, NPR, PBS NewsHour, Univision News, USA Today Network, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press. The survey of 3,683 voters in California was conducted for eight days, concluding as polls closed. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. The survey combines a random sample of registered voters drawn from the state voter file and self-identified registered voters selected from nonprobability online panels. The margin of sampling error for voters is estimated to be plus or minus 2 percentage points. Find more details about AP VoteCast’s methodology at https://ap.org/votecast.
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For AP’s complete coverage of the U.S. presidential elections: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2020
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