How Blue State Voters Compare to Red State Voters Part 3: California Voters vs. Red States Voters on Issues!

Between April and June, 2017, Americas Majority Foundation conducted polls in Wisconsin, Missouri and Montana, states that Trump carried. Just as we did after the elections, we asked several questions on voters’ economic vision and among those questions included does increased government spending and deficits help or hurt the economy, does growth in the private sector enhance our opportunity to succeed and should government policies emphasize economic growth and job creation over dealing with inequality between the 1% and the rest of us.

In our national poll, the majority of voters didn’t believe that increasing government spending or deficits helped the economy. When we asked similar question to voters in these states plus California’s 43rd district, we saw similar answers even though we saw a drop from Democrats since the election viewing increasing government spending as harmful to the economy. Every state we polled plus the 43rd California district saw the Democratic view on increasing government spending hurting the economy dropping below 40% whereas our national poll saw that 51% of Democrats actually viewed increasing government spending as harmful.

In California’s 43rd District 67% of Republican and 48% of Independents plus nearly a third of Democrats viewed increasing government spending as being harmful to the economy. This contrasts to 71% Republicans and 60% of Wisconsin Independents, 81% Missourian Republicans and 60% Missourians Independents, 84% of Montana Republicans and 67% Montana Independents. 32% of California Democrats viewed increasing government spending as harmful compared to 44% Wisconsin Democrats, 37% Missourians Democrats and 36% Montana Democrats. Only in California’s 43rd District did more Democrats view increasing government spending as helping the economy but 35% Missourian Democrats and 34% of Montana Democrats did view the need to increase government spending compared to 37% of California Democrats. This is one of those glass half-filled, half-empty where 32% to 44% of Democrat voters in three states and California district view increasing government spending as harming the economy along with the vast majority of Republicans and Independents! So the majority of Americans including in of our bluest district don’t buy into Keynesian economy on steroids.

When asked should government emphasize job creation and economic growth over dealing with the problems of inequality, California voters told us they want economic growth. 67% of Republicans, 59% of Democrats and 48% of Independents favor policies dealing with economic growth and only 6% of Republicans, 21% of Democrats and 28% of Independents wanting policies dealing with inequality between the 1% and the rest of us. Democrats in California are actually more likely to favor economic growth policies than Democrats in Wisconsin, Missouri and Montana. 85% Wisconsin Republicans, 86% Missouri Republicans and 84% of Montana Republicans supported policies emphasizing economic growth and job creations contrasted with 67% California Republicans. 55% of Wisconsin and Missouri Independents along with 64% Montana Republicans favored economic growth over the politics of envy compared to 48% of California independents. The key point is that when presented with growth over the politics of envy, voters will pick the politics of growth over envy, even in blue congressional districts.

We asked voters does the growth of the private sector aid in your opportunity to succeed and this may be another way of asking voters, do you prefer policies aiding economic growth? It is also a way to measure whether a voter views the private sector the engine of growth or government as the engine of growth. In our post-election polls, voters agreed that private sector growth was good for their own successes.

44% of California Democratic voters viewed the growth of the private sector as good for their own successes compared to 40% of Wisconsin Democrats, 29% Missouri Democrats and nearly 39% of Montana Democrats. 43% of Missouri Democrats don’t believe that a growing private sector aids their opportunity to succeed and this was the only state of the three where more Democrats didn’t believe that a growing private sector is important to their own opportunity to succeed.

76% of Wisconsin Republicans, 67% of Missourians Republicans and 82% of Montana Republicans along with 66% of California Republicans believe in a growing private sector important to their economic opportunities. 54% of California Independents along with 55% Missourian and Wisconsin Independents along with 64% of Montana Independents view a growing private sector as important to improving economic opportunity.

On this issue, California Democrats were more likely to view the necessity of private sector growth than Democrats in Missouri, Wisconsin and Montana, three states that Donald Trump carried and in the case of both Missouri and Montana, by wide margins. California Independents were as likely to view the need for private sector as Independents in Missouri and Wisconsin.