Voters in Louisiana made their pick for president while holding mixed 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 47% of Louisiana voters said the U.S. is on the right track and 53% 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 1,786 voters and 550 nonvoters in Louisiana — conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.
TRUMP VS BIDEN
In the race for president, Trump led Biden among both voters under 45 and older voters.
Black voters were more likely to support Biden over Trump while white voters were more likely to back Trump.
Trump was preferred over Biden among both voters without a college degree and college-educated voters.
Voters in cities were more likely to prefer Biden but Trump was preferred among both 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, 27% of voters said the virus in the U.S. is completely or mostly under control, and 32% said it’s somewhat under control. Forty percent of voters think the coronavirus is not at all under control in this country.
ON THE ISSUES
The economy was top of mind for many voters in Louisiana. Thirty-five percent said it is the most important issue facing the country today.
Voters also considered the coronavirus pandemic a major issue, with 29% saying it ranked at the top.
Twelve percent named racism, 6% named health care and 5% named law enforcement.
NATIONAL ECONOMY
Voters were slightly negative in their assessments of the nation’s economy. Overall, 46% described economic conditions in the U.S. as excellent or good, and 54% called them not so good or poor.
STAYING AT HOME
Among registered voters who chose not to cast a ballot in Louisiana, 23% said that was because their vote doesn’t matter, 21% said they don’t like politics generally and 17% said they are concerned about being exposed to the coronavirus.
In Louisiana, 72% of nonvoters were younger than 45 and 86% 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 1,786 voters in Louisiana 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 3 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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