90.5 WESA and Campos, a Pittsburgh-based market research firm, are partnering on a series of short opinion surveys of adults in the Pittsburgh region to better understand their opinions on a range of timely topics.
In this latest round of the WESA/Campos Pulse Survey, we explore Pittsburgh-area residents’ attitudes and intentions with regard to the upcoming April 2024 primary election.
Key Findings:
Most Pittsburgh area residents (88%) said they are at least somewhat likely to vote in the upcoming primary election, and more than half (57%) have been paying attention to the primary elections “a good deal” or more, this year.
- 96% of respondents self-identified as registered to vote in PA.
- Based on self-reporting, 88% of respondents said they were at least “somewhat” likely to vote in the April 2024 primary election — with 77% “very likely.”
- 81% of respondents reported that they had been paying attention to local elections this year at least “a moderate amount.” More specifically, that included:
- 22% paying attention “completely”
- 35% paying attention “a good deal”
- 24% paying attention “a moderate amount”
- Older respondents reported being much more likely to vote in the upcoming primary election than younger respondents, with 87% of respondents ages 65+ saying they were “very likely” to vote compared to 58% of respondents ages 18-34.
While the majority of Pittsburghers believe elections, especially national elections, have a great deal of impact on their life, they’re less certain of the impact their vote has on elections.
- 59% of respondents said local elections have “a great deal” of impact on their life.
- 58% said the same about state elections, and 68% said national elections have a great deal of impact.
- Respondents ages 65+ were much more likely than younger respondents to say state and national elections have a great deal of impact on their life (and also a little more likely to say so for local elections).
- A plurality of respondents said they, personally, could have only “somewhat” of an impact on local, state, and national elections.
- 48% of respondents said they can make somewhat of an impact on local elections.
- 55% said the same about state elections, and 46% said the same about national elections.
- A notable minority felt they could not make any impact personally — 14% for local elections, 15% for state elections, and 22% for national elections.
- Respondents feel they have the most opportunity to make an impact on local elections (39% said they could make a great deal of impact), compared to state (29%) and national (31%) elections.
- Those who are paying more attention to elections are much more likely to think than can have a great deal of impact compared to those paying no attention or only a moderate amount (e.g., 41% of those paying attention say they can have a great impact on national elections, vs. 10% of those slightly or not at all paying attention).
Economic issues are the top driver of voters’ choices in both local/state and national elections, followed by women’s reproductive issues.
Percentages below indicate the percent of respondents who marked that item as one of the top 3 issues “most important in deciding your vote for local or state elections.” The issues important for local and state elections were assessed in 2 separate questions.
- For local/state races, Pittsburgh area residents were most likely to identify “economic issues” (55%) as one of the top 3 issues important in deciding their votes.
- This was followed by “women’s reproductive issues” (38%) and “criminal justice and/or public safety” (36%).
- Women were much more likely to prioritize “women’s reproductive issues” than men (49% selected it as a top 3 issue, vs. 27% of men), though “economic issues” was still the top issue for women by a small margin.
- Economic issues (56%) and reproductive issues (42%) also top the list for national races, with several other issues about tied for 3rd place (“immigration policy” at 32%, “tax policies” at 30%, “criminal justice and/or public safety” at 29%).
- Again, women are much more likely to prioritize “women’s reproductive issues” (53% selected it as a top 3 issue, vs. 30% of men).
- In both local/state and national races, Democrats and Republicans have very different priorities.
- In both local/state and national races, “women’s reproductive issues” are the most important issue driving the vote for registered Democrats, with 55% of them selecting it as a top issue in local/state races and 61% selecting it as a top issue in national races.
- “Economic issues” comes a little just behind it (47% local/state, 53% national). Every other issue is much less likely to be prioritized (i.e., less than 30%).
- “Economic issues” rank first for registered Republicans (68% local/state, 63% national), but they also deem “immigration policy” and “criminal justice and/or public safety” nearly as important.
- In local/state races, 52% of Republicans chose “criminal justice and/or public safety” as a top 3 concern, and 61% chose “immigration policy” as a top 3 concern. In national races those figures were 47% and 61% respectively.
Registered Democrats are somewhat more likely than registered Republicans to say their party is aligned with their views on the issues they care most about.
- 56% of registered Democrats said their party is aligned with their views on the issues they care most about, compared to 47% of Republicans.
- A notable minority of both parties say their party is not aligned with their views (36% of Democrats, 49% of Republicans).
- Among registered Republicans, 30% say the party is not well-aligned with them but moving closer to their views, while 19% say the party is not well aligned and moving further away from their views.
- Those paying close attention to the elections are much more likely to say their party is well aligned with their views (56%), compared to those paying little to no attention (29%).
Looking ahead, most Pittsburgh area residents say they know who they plan to vote for in the 2024 Presidential Election.
- When asked for whom who they intend to vote for President in 2024, assuming Joe Biden and Donald Trump will be the major party nominees, 77% of respondents say they “know for sure” who they will be voting for.
- 10% say they are uncertain but leaning in one direction, and another 9% say they are completely undecided. Only 2% said they do not intend to vote for President.
- Registered Republicans are slightly more likely than registered Democrats to be undecided.
- While the majority of Republicans said they know for sure for whom they plan to vote for President (76%), they were less certain than Democrats (85%).
- Younger respondents are also more likely to be undecided.
- 69% of respondents ages 18-34 years old “know for sure” for whom who they intend to vote for President, compared to 77% of 35-64 year olds and 85% of people ages 65+.
Survey Methodology
Fielding dates: April 1-5, 2024
Survey length: 5-8 minutes.
Sample: 400 adults (age 18+) in the Pittsburgh region
- Responses were solicited from the proprietary Campos Research Panel (10,000+ members in the Greater Pittsburgh area). Respondents were offered a chance to win one of five $50 gift cards to incentivize participation.
- 85% of the respondents reside in Allegheny County, and 15% reside in the adjacent 5 counties (Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Washington, Westmoreland).
- The sample was managed to be approximately representative of the 6-county region by age, gender, and race/ethnicity.
Screening Criteria:
- Age is 18 or older
- Resides in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Washington, or Westmoreland counties
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About the WESA/Campos Pulse Survey:
This joint research and reporting project enables WESA to tap into the opinions of people in Pittsburgh on a regular basis and use the corresponding results to complement our reporting.
These surveys are issued quarterly to members of the Campos Research Panel. Each survey contains about 10-15 short questions and takes only a few minutes to complete.
The survey is fielded primarily among residents of Allegheny County but also includes respondents from the adjacent counties (Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Washington, Westmoreland). It is representative of the region in terms of age, gender, and race/ethnicity.
This project brings together two organizations with unique and complementary strengths. Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation’s 90.5 WESA produces award-winning, independent, fact-based journalism with a focus on the communities of southwestern Pennsylvania. Campos is a Pittsburgh-based research and strategy firm, bringing 35 years of market research and consumer insight experience to its work.
Residents of the Pittsburgh region who are interested in participating in the survey may join the Campos Research Panel here. For more information about the survey, contact Joe Kuhn at jkuhn@campos.com.
