The Economy is Top Concern for Indiana Voters
A new Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey of Indiana voters finds U.S. Senator Mike Braun leading in the gubernatorial Republican primary with 34% support, followed by Suzanne Crouch (7%), Eric Doden (7%), and Brad Chambers (5%). No other candidate reaches five percent. A plurality of voters (43%) are undecided.
“Republican primary voters who find immigration to be the top issue facing the state break for Braun at 48%, and the economy at 40%,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. “Braun’s support in the Republican primary is about ten points higher among men than women, 38% to 28%, as 51% of women are undecided ahead of the May election.”
Republican voters were asked, regardless of how they might vote, which candidate for Governor they trust to do the best job on a series of issues.
- Crime and public safety: 54% trust Braun to do the best job, 12% Crouch, 12% Doden 11% Chambers, 8% Hill, and 3% Reitenour.
- Taxes and the economy: 55% trust Braun, 15% Crouch, 11% Doden, 9% Chambers, 6% Hill, and 4% Reitenour.
- Education: 47% trust Braun, 22% Crouch, 12% Doden, 10% Chambers, 5% Hill, and 4% Reitenour.
In the Republican primary for president, 78% support former President Donald Trump, while 14% support former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the race after this poll was conducted. Four percent support someone else and five percent are undecided.
President Joe Biden holds a 30% job approval among Indiana voters, while 59% disapprove of the job he is doing in office. Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb holds a 36% job approval and a 30% disapproval rating.
“Governor Holcomb holds a 44% approval rating among Republican voters, 24% among Democrats, and 35% among independent voters,” Kimball noted.
In a potential 2024 general presidential election, 55% support Donald Trump, 34% Joe Biden, and 12% are undecided.
The most important issue for Indiana voters is the economy (34%), followed by crime (12%), threats to democracy (12%), immigration (11%), education (8%), abortion access (8%), and housing affordability (6%).
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling/The Hill Indiana poll was conducted March 2-5, 2024. The sample consisted of 1,000 registered voters, with a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error, of +/- 3 percentage points. The Republican primary consisted of 526 likely Republican primary voters, with a credibility interval of +/- 4.2%. The data sets were weighted by gender, age, party, race, and education based on US Census parameters, and Indiana voter registration and voter turnout data by regions (IN SOS). Data was collected by contacting an online panel of voters provided by Alchemer, along with a list of emails, cell phones via MMS-to-web provided by Aristotle.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and know that with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
This survey was conducted by Emerson College Polling and sponsored by Nexstar Media. All questions asked in this survey with exact wording, along with full results and cross tabulations can be found under “Full Results.”
