VoteCast: Hawaii voters say nation headed wrong way
A majority of voters casting midterm election ballots in Hawaii said the country is headed in the wrong direction, according to a wide-ranging survey of the American electorate.
As voters cast ballots for governor, U.S. Senate and members of Congress in Tuesday’s elections, AP VoteCast found that 27 percent of Hawaii voters said the country is on the right track, compared with 73 percent who said the country is headed in the wrong direction.
Here’s a snapshot of who voted and why in Hawaii, based on preliminary results from AP VoteCast, an innovative nationwide survey of about 139,000 voters and nonvoters — including 772 voters and 198 nonvoters in the state of Hawaii — conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.
RACE FOR SENATE
In the race for Senate, Democrat Mazie Hirono was preferred over Republican Ron Curtis among voters under 45; in addition, those ages 45 and older were more likely to favor Hirono.
Voters with a college education were more likely to favor Hirono. In addition, voters without a college degree supported Hirono.
RACE FOR GOVERNOR
Democrat David Ige had an apparent advantage over Republican Andria Tupola among voters under 45 in the race for governor. Voters ages 45 and older were more likely to support Ige.
Voters without a college degree modestly supported Ige. Similarly, college graduates supported Ige.
TOP ISSUES
Voters considered several issues to be important to their vote in this midterm election, including health care (23 percent), the economy (20 percent), immigration (15 percent), the environment (11 percent) and gun policy (9 percent).
STATE OF THE ECONOMY
Views of economic conditions in the country are mixed — 52 percent of voters said the nation’s economy is not good, compared with 47 percent who said it’s good.
TRUMP FACTOR
For 34 percent of Hawaii voters, President Donald Trump was not a factor they considered while casting their votes. By comparison, 15 percent said a reason for their vote was to express support for Trump, and 51 percent said they voted to express opposition to Trump.
A majority of voters in Hawaii had negative views of Trump: 72 percent said they disapprove of how he is handling his job as president, while 28 percent said they approve of Trump.
CONTROL OF CONGRESS
Tuesday’s elections will determine control of Congress in the final two years of Trump’s first term in office, and 59 percent of Hawaii voters said which party will hold control was very important as they considered their vote. Another 24 percent said it was somewhat important.