Housing, education & taxes are top issues for Utah voters, Sutherland finds

Heading into the 2024 elections, most likely voters in Utah view housing affordability, education funding and taxes as most important to their vote, a new survey from Sutherland Institute and Y2 Analytics shows. By contrast, controversial issues like tech regulation and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are least important to how Utahns will vote.

Likely voters in Utah were asked to review a list of nine issues taken up by the Legislature and rank them in order of most important to least important with respect to how those issues will impact their vote this election year. Respondents’ rankings were averaged and three tiers of issues stood out based on priority:

Top Tier: Housing affordability, education funding and taxes.

Middle Tier: Great Salt Lake preservation, cost of raising children, curriculum transparency and election processes.

Bottom Tier: Tech regulation and DEI in higher education.

Republicans prioritize curriculum transparency and taxes higher than Democrats do, while Democrats view DEI in higher education and the Great Salt Lake as more important than Republicans view them.

Younger voters view the cost of raising children as a higher priority than older voters, while the latter demographic places more importance on election processes and tech regulation.

Single, divorced and cohabiting voters and voters between 18-34 and 45-54 see housing affordability as distinctly more important than any other issue.

The full report is available at the institute’s website, sutherlandinstitute.org.

The Sutherland Institute partners with Y2 Analytics to regularly survey likely voters in Utah about important public policy and political issues. This new issue brief measures the attitudes and priorities of likely voters toward a variety of issues leading up to the 2024 elections.