WASHINGTON — Republicans hold a narrow and unexpected edge over Democrats on the cost-of-living issue among swing voters in eight key states, according to a grassroots survey conducted by the conservative-leaning group Americans for Prosperity.
Asked which party would be more effective at lowering everyday expenses, 44% of respondents chose Republicans, compared with 39% who selected Democrats. Another 16% said neither party was best positioned to reduce costs, the group’s latest “Americans Unscripted” report found.
Affordability has consistently ranked as voters’ leading concern in polling ahead of the midterm elections. For the party in power, the issue has increasingly been viewed as a political warning sign.
At the same time, several surveys — including previous polling by AFP — have shown Democrats with an advantage over Republicans on the economy and household expenses. A New York Times/Siena College poll, for instance, found Democrats leading the GOP by 8 percentage points on the issue.
The AFP survey questioned 24,089 swing voters across Alaska, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin. Because the effort relied largely on door-to-door canvassing, it did not include a traditional margin of error.
During August, the free-market advocacy organization spoke with roughly 98,320 people in the eight states. The reported findings, however, were drawn specifically from those identified as swing voters.
“Republicans hold a narrow lead on affordability. But ask those same voters what future they want for the country, and the contrast is striking: nearly 70% favor personal freedom and free-market solutions, compared with fewer than 10% who want more government,” AFP spokesperson Katelyn Bledsoe told The Post.
“Republican candidates have a clear opening,” she said, arguing that GOP contenders now need to present a strong distinction between conservative policies and what she described as a Democratic Party increasingly influenced by socialist ideas.
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A separate earlier survey commissioned by the group found that 37% of respondents would be less likely to support a Democratic socialist. Seventeen percent said such a candidate would make them more likely to vote for them, while 46% remained uncertain.
That poll was conducted from Aug. 9 through Aug. 16 among voters in Alaska, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire and Ohio.
“Democrats have played with socialism since the 1930s, but now they’ve let the genie out of the bottle, and it’s out of control,” Charles, a Waukee, Iowa, resident, told the organization, according to the report.
Americans for Prosperity says growing unease over socialism could give Republicans an opportunity to reshape the political debate.
“Our biggest opportunity is responding to a meaningful shift we have seen in our conversations at the doors,” Donovan O’Neil, the group’s Ohio director, said.
“Beginning in mid-August, concerns about socialism started appearing more frequently among voters, and that concern has continued to grow,” O’Neil added.
Republicans have traditionally faced an uphill fight in their effort to retain or win control of the House, particularly because the party occupying the White House often encounters difficult political conditions in midterm elections.
The contest for the Senate, meanwhile, has generally been viewed as more evenly balanced, with control of the chamber considered difficult to predict.
Democrats have made affordability a central line of attack against Republicans. The issue has become even more prominent as gasoline prices have climbed amid the war in Iran and other geopolitical pressures.
