Polls

The Nation - Above all, working-class voters are economically progressive. Seventy-five percent favor an increase in the minimum wage, 88 percent are for the government’s reducing prescription drug prices, and 65 percent agree that corporate boards of directors should be required to include workers. Interestingly, 63 percent of these voters also favor import limits to protect jobs in the US. This suggests that, if the GOP can only execute tariffs with careless disregard, then the Democrats may stand to gain from deploying them thoughtfully, perhaps to enforce common labor and environmental standards.

On cultural questions, working-class voters are onboard with the cornerstones of the progressive agenda, though not every item. Roughly 80 percent oppose outlawing abortion, support laws protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination, and wish to strengthen controls on gun purchases. That said, only about half consider themselves “pro-choice” or support an assault weapons ban. Finally, only around 10 percent of working-class voters wish to see the state or federal government spend less on law enforcement.

What about immigration? Though other work has shown that working-class voters (and indeed Americans overall) tend to trust Republicans more on this issue, the full story is more complicated. Roughly 70 percent are against family separations, and don’t believe immigrants will take American jobs. And 61 percent support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, a rate that would surely be higher if not for backlash against Biden-era border policy. (Indeed, the backlash may now be going the other way.) The Democratic Party can find the audience for an empathetic immigration policy, but it will have to be willing to fight a serious messaging battle for it.  More