Evidence

Public Preferences Evidence Library

Thirty-two grouped preference findings (P01–P32) with populations, dates, and interpretation limits.

2026-10-08 · Research checked October 8, 2026 | Edition 10

A percentage is not a platform, and the absence of a poll is not a public rejection. Multiple findings from one survey wave are correlated evidence, not independent replications. National adults are not district voters.

P01

29% of registered voters named an economic issue as most important to their vote (open-ended); 15% named affordability.

Pew · Field: Jul 6–12, 2026 · Registered voters (n≈2,779 within 3,554 adults)

Limit: Leading category, not a majority mandate. Open-ended answers are not comparable to prompted importance ratings.

P02

Party agreement on economy nearly tied (37% D vs 36% R). Healthcare: 42% vs 28%. Deficit: 33% vs 31%, with 33% “neither.”

Pew · Field: Jul 6–12, 2026 · Registered voters

Limit: Party agreement is not candidate agreement. “Neither” is meaningful evidence.

P03

Registered voters rating issue “extremely important”: cost of living 62%, healthcare costs 47%, government fraud/waste 44%, Iran 38%, immigration 35%, abortion 21%.

KFF · Field: Sep 16–21, 2026 · 1,013 registered voters (±4)

Limit: Intensity scale; lower-ranked rights are not expendable.

P04

Single national health plan: 66% support. Under arguments: higher taxes cut support to 35%; delay concerns to 24%; private-insurance elimination 52/47.

KFF · Field: Sep 16–21, 2026 · Adults / registered voters

Limit: Support for a label is not stable consent to every implementation. Do not average differently framed questions.

P05

Guaranteed insurance 76% support; eliminating premiums and lower out-of-pocket costs 75%.

KFF · Field: Sep 16–21, 2026 · Adults / registered voters

Limit: Not evidence the benefits are achievable without tradeoffs.

P06

Bothered “a lot”: wealthy not paying fair share 61%; corporations 60%; complexity 51%; own bill 41%.

Pew · Field: Jan 20–26, 2026 · 8,512 adults

Limit: Does not select a wealth-tax design or rate.

P07

Abortion legal in all or most cases: 60%.

Pew · Field: Jan 20–26, 2026 · 8,512 adults

Limit: Broad direction only—not any gestational threshold or funding rule.

P08

Tariffs have gone too far: 64%. Iran war not worth fighting: 69%.

AP-NORC · Field: Sep 24–28, 2026 · 2,140 adults (±2.9)

Limit: Evaluations of current policy, not every conceivable tariff or military action.

P09

62% support military presence at the border; 66% oppose suspending asylum; 64% oppose large detention facilities.

Pew · Field: Jan 20–26, 2026 · 8,512 adults

Limit: Neither open borders nor unlimited coercion follows.

P10

72% reject immigration checks based on appearance/language; 61% reject officers covering faces; 74% accept civilians recording officers.

Pew · Field: Jan 20–26, 2026 · 8,512 adults

Limit: Test safeguards separately from enforcement volume.

P11

Deportations went too far 52%, about right 31%, not far enough 15%.

Pew · Field: Apr 6–12, 2026 · 3,592 adults

Limit: Time-specific appraisal of then-current practice.

P12

Legal medical and recreational marijuana 55%; medical only 33%; neither 11%.

Pew · Field: Jan 20–26, 2026 · 8,512 adults

Limit: Leaves safety, age, and impairment questions open.

P13

Stricter gun laws 58%; purchase age 21: 79%.

Pew · Field: June 2023 (updated fact sheet) · National adults

Limit: Older evidence; cannot label 2026 district opinion.

P14

Congressional term limits 87%; maximum ages 79%; campaign-spending limits 72%.

Pew · Field: 2023 survey, republished Jul 2026 · National adults

Limit: Publication date is not field date. Constitutional feasibility unresolved.

P15

Prioritize renewables over fossil expansion 57%; encourage wind/solar 65%.

Pew · Field: Mar 16–22, 2026 · 3,524 adults

Limit: Not a mandate for one technology-exclusive grid.

P16

Sports by birth sex 66%; antidiscrimination protections for transgender people 56%.

Pew · Field: Feb 2025 (summarised Aug 2026) · National adults

Limit: Distinct questions; no unified national mandate.

P17

75% of Democrats and 68% of Republicans expect AI to reduce jobs.

Pew · Field: Jun 22–28, 2026 · 3,488 adults

Limit: Expectations, not measured job losses.

P18

Data centers seen as bad for environment by 39% and for household energy costs by 38% (vs 4% and 6% “good”).

Pew · Field: Jan 2026 survey; Mar report · National adults

Limit: Many respondents unfamiliar; local impacts need engineering analysis.

P19

Four-year colleges rated positively on affordability 12%, poorly 63%; quality positive 50%.

Gallup · Field: Jun 1–15, 2026 · National adults

Limit: Cost criticism is not wholesale rejection of college.

P20

Major national worries: healthcare 61%, economy 51%, inflation 50%, deficit 50%.

Gallup · Field: Mar 2026 · National adults

Limit: Different scale from P01/P03; do not merge percentages.

P21

41% doubt Social Security will be available in ten years.

West Health–Gallup · Field: Jun–Aug 2025 (Dec report) · ~20,000 adults

Limit: Perception, not an actuarial forecast.

P22

Medicare buy-in beginning at 55: 80% national support (R75 / D84 / I83).

UMd Program for Public Consultation · Field: Feb 11–26, 2026 · 2,509 adults (±2.9)

Limit: A buy-in is not free coverage or single payer.

P23