Following the 2024 presidential election, commentators speculated about a seemingly wide ideological gulf: 56 percent of working-class voters cast their vote for Donald Trump, and an equal percentage of college-educated voters did the same for Kamala Harris. A new analysis, however, shows that working-class and college-educated voters are similar in their support for progressive economic policies.
A Center for American Progress analysis of data from the 2024 election and review of pre-election surveys finds that working-class voters—defined as voters without a four-year college degree—and college-educated voters want similar things: decent pay for hard work, a strong voice on the job, and for the rich to pay their fair share to support public goods. (see the Methodological appendix for a full discussion of the sources used in the analysis) Both working-class and college-educated workers overwhelmingly support unions; a higher federal minimum wage; higher taxes on the rich; greater public investment in the roads, bridges, and other infrastructure Americans use every day; and an expansion of the social safety net, especially Medicaid.
The above excerpt was originally published in Center for American Progress.
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