Opinion: Much of what we hear in soundbites is not a priority for most Arizona voters, according to a new survey. That should be a red flag for candidates.
By Sybil Francis opinion contributor |Arizona Republic
What do voters want candidates to discuss? Not surprisingly, it’s not the same old partisan talking points.
Early ballots for Arizona’s primary election will begin landing in mailboxes in a few weeks. Already, the airwaves and our inboxes are filling up with campaign ads, mostly telling us how bad the other candidates are.
Or, if they do address issues, they focus on topics calculated to inflame passions. But are these the issues voters really care about?
We at the Center for the Future of Arizona decided to ask voters. Are voters getting the information they need from candidates to cast an informed vote? Their answer: No, not even close.
Thus was born the Arizona Voters’ Agenda, a data-driven look at what likely Arizona voters care about and what they want candidates asking for their vote to talk about.
Most Arizonans care about the same few issues
The results paint a very different picture than if sound bites and political rhetoric were the guides. They’re eye-opening proof that across political parties and age groups, Arizonans agree on what is important.
The Arizona Voters’ Agenda is the latest example of Center for the Future of Arizona’s commitment to listening to Arizonans about what matters most to them and broadly sharing the results to help communities and elected leaders make informed decisions about how to build the Arizona we want.
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In this round of listening to Arizonans, we worked with HighGround Public Affairs to conduct the new survey of 2022 likely voters. Our findings were consistent with what we learned from our statewide survey of Arizonans in partnership with Gallup in the fall of 2020, as well as from earlier surveys.
We began by letting voters tell us the priorities on their minds. Responses to the open-ended question, “What do you want the candidates to be discussing as they compete for your vote in this year’s election?” revealed themes consistent with we saw in our previous surveys: immigration, economy, education, environment, politics and elections were at the top.
Arizonans across the political spectrum are consistent in what they value and what they want from their political leaders. The failure of political leaders to listen to Arizonans hasn’t changed their priorities.
