Pew: Little Partisan Consensus on Major Problems Facing Nation

As the midterm elections quickly approach, Republican and Democratic voters differ widely in views of the seriousness of numerous problems facing the United States, according to a Pew Research Center poll released on Monday.

The wide gap in the different outlooks can be seen across a wide range of issues.

• Seventy-one percent of Democratic voters say the way racial and ethnic minorities are treated by the criminal justice system is a very big problem for the country, while only 10 percent of Republicans agree.
• Climate change has a similarly large partisan gap, as 72 percent of Democrats say it is a major problem, but only 11 percent of Republicans think so.
• Gun violence is viewed as a major concern by 81 percent of Democrats, but by only 25 percent of GOP supporters.
• Seventy-seven percent of Democrats see the gap between rich and poor as a very big problem, but only 22 percent of Republicans agree.
• Sixty-three percent of Democrats say racism is a big concern, but only 19 percent of Republicans say so. Similarly, 50 percent of Democrats say sexism is a major problem, with only 12 percent of Republicans agreeing.
• While 75 percent of Republicans say illegal immigration is a major concern, only 19 percent of Democrats agree.

The only issues surveyed in which the partisan gap is negligible are: drug addiction, the federal budget deficit and violent crime.

The survey was conducted between September 24 and October 7 among 10,683 adults. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.

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