Swing Voters More Likely to Vote for Candidate Committed to Jobs for People with Disabilities

Author: RespectAbilityUSA
Published: 2014/10/03
Category Topic: Disability Political Editorials - Academic Publications

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: Swing voters in Senate and Governors races more likely to vote for candidate who makes a high priority of enabling citizens with disabilities to get jobs and become independent.

Introduction

Main Content

Marking the start of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, RespectAbilityUSA is releasing a new bi-partisan survey conducted by Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg PhD of Quinlan Rosner Research and Republican Pollster Whit Ayes, PhD of Northstar Opinion.

The battleground state survey of 1000 likely 2014 voters finds that swing voters in Senate and Governors races are more likely to vote for a candidate who makes a high priority of "enabling citizens with disabilities to get jobs and become independent."

• Overall voters are similarly more likely to support candidates for U.S. Senate making this a priority at 49 percent versus 5 percent. While for Governors it is 53 percent versus 3 percent.
• Fully 56 percent of voters report having a family member or close friend with a disability, 43 percent do not.
• Similar to US Census numbers, 15 percent report having a disability, 31 percent have a family member with a disability and 10 percent have a close friend with a disability.
• The poll showed that amongst likely voters with disabilities that 31 percent are Democrats, 31 percent are Independents and 36 percent are Republicans.
• Amongst their family members it is 35 percent Democrats, 33 percent Independents, 30 percent Republicans. For their close friends it is 36 percent Democrats, 38 percent Independents, and 24 percent Republicans.

Said Stan Greenberg, PhD, "Issues of employment among people with disabilities can affect outcomes in competitive races for Senate and Governor. This community is far bigger than many people realize, including people in my profession."

Likewise, Republican Whit Ayres commented "We are accustomed to thinking about "soccer moms", "Hispanics" or "values voters." But this poll shows that Americans with disabilities - and those who care deeply about them are a demographic we need to pay attention to in the future."

More info at respectabilityusa.com/by-huge-margins-swing-voters-in-key-battleground-states-more-likely-to-vote-for-candidate-committed-to-jobs-for-people-with-disabilities/