Voters in Ohio 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 44% of Ohio voters said the U.S. is on the right track and 56% 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 3,902 voters and 722 nonvoters in Ohio — conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.
TRUMP VS BIDEN
In the race for president, Biden was about even with Trump among voters under 45 while older voters were more likely to prefer Trump.
Black voters were more likely to favor Biden but white voters were more likely to favor Trump.
Biden had an apparent advantage among college-educated voters but voters without a college degree were more likely to support Trump over Biden.
Biden led Trump among voters in cities. Voters in small towns and rural areas were more likely to back Trump over Biden. Biden was neck and neck with Trump among suburban voters.
FACING THE PANDEMIC
The coronavirus pandemic has spread through the U.S. for roughly eight months, killing more than 230,000 Americans. Overall, 20% of voters said the virus in the U.S. is completely or mostly under control, and 30% said it’s somewhat under control. Forty-nine 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 Ohio. Thirty-nine percent said it is the most important issue facing the country today.
Voters also considered the economy a major issue, with 30% saying it ranked at the top.
Nine percent named health care, 7% named racism and 4% named law enforcement.
NATIONAL ECONOMY
Voters were slightly negative in their assessments of the nation’s economy. Overall, 47% described economic conditions in the U.S. as excellent or good, and 53% called them not so good or poor.
STAYING AT HOME
Among registered voters who chose not to cast a ballot in Ohio, 21% said that was because they don’t like politics generally, 19% said their vote doesn’t matter and 19% said they don’t like the candidates.
In Ohio, 71% of nonvoters were younger than 45 and 85% 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 3,902 voters in Ohio 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 1.9 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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