CONNECTICUT — Inflation and the cost of living are the most important state issue for 40% of respondents in a Wesleyan University survey, well ahead of taxes at 17%, jobs and the economy at 7%, and healthcare at 6%. The findings describe voters’ views ahead of the November 3 election, not an official measure of prices or a prediction of the result.
Wesleyan SurveyLab released the poll October 16. YouGov conducted it online September 22–October 7 among 1,000 self-identified registered Connecticut voters. The Connecticut Project funded the survey; Wesleyan’s research team designed it with input from the funder and CT Mirror. The published margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 4.54 percentage points.
The financial strain extends beyond a single issue ranking. Fifty-five percent said Connecticut’s economy had worsened over the previous year, and 71% said earning a living wage and affording basic goods and services had become harder. Thirty-seven percent said they had seriously considered leaving the state during the past year. Among that group—not all respondents—80% cited living costs and 68% cited taxes as reasons.
Respondents’ priorities point in more than one fiscal direction. Asked how state surpluses should be used, 52% preferred tax cuts, compared with 26% favoring more spending on programs and services and 15% favoring repayment of long-term debt. Yet separate questions found majorities wanting increased spending on healthcare, food assistance, transportation, schools and housing.
Among the policy ideas tested, 82% supported eliminating the car tax, 73% supported a tax credit for low- and middle-income renters, and 70% supported a permanent child tax credit for low- and middle-income families. Seventy-six percent supported increasing taxes on millionaires and billionaires. These figures measure responses to proposals; they do not mean any proposal has been enacted or funded.
The poll also found an electoral advantage for Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont: 53% of the full registered-voter sample favored him, compared with 32% for Republican challenger Ryan Fazio. Eleven percent were unsure, 4% said they would not vote in the race, and fewer than 1% selected someone else. Those interviews ended October 7, so they do not capture all later campaign developments.
The sample was drawn from online panels, matched and weighted to represent Connecticut registered voters. It is not a census of residents, and its statewide percentages should not be treated as findings for any individual Eastern Connecticut town. Wesleyan’s published methodology and question materials allow readers to examine how the results were produced.
NBC Connecticut highlighted the same affordability findings in an October 19 report. That coverage draws on the Wesleyan poll rather than providing a second independent survey. Early voting began October 19 and runs through November 1; Election Day is November 3.