FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 16, 2017

Contact: Symone Sanders, ssanders@prioritiesusaaction.org

NEW POLL: VOTE FOR AHCA A POTENT MESSAGE AGAINST SWING DISTRICT REPUBLICANS

A new poll from Priorities USA and Patriot Majority highlights importance of informing voters of GOP members’ votes for AHCA

A new poll conducted in 15 Republican-held swing House districts indicates that voting yes on the American Health Care Act has already taken a toll on GOP members of Congress and could prove career-ending for many House Republicans if Democrats increase voters’ awareness of how their representative voted.

The poll, conducted by Garin-Hart-Yang Research on behalf of Patriot Majority and Priorities USA, found that opposition to the legislation is extremely strong among voters who know the most about it. Voters who know their representative voted “yes” on the bill say by 52% to 40% that they would prefer to elect a Democrat next year. Independents who know how their representative voted say that they prefer to elect a Democrat by 48% to 33%.

The survey found that only slightly more than half (56%) of voters in these districts currently know how their representative voted. And those voters who don’t know say they prefer to reelect the incumbent by nearly 30 points (56% to 27%).

According to a memo outlining the findings, “The bottom line: If you are a Republican, the key takeaway from this research is that you want voters to know as little as possible about the AHCA and to forget about it as soon as possible. But for Democrats and other progressives, the survey highlights the importance of educating voters and making sure they always remember that their GOP representatives supported passing this bill.”

The 15 districts included in the survey are: AZ-02, CA-25, CA-45, CA-49, FL-18, IA-01, IA-03, IL-06, ME-02, MN-02, MN-03, NY-01, NY-19, TX-07, and VA-02.