As the midterm elections quickly approach, Republican and Democratic voters differ widely in views of the seriousness of numerous problems facing the United States, according to a Pew Research Center poll released on Monday.
The wide gap in the different outlooks can be seen across a wide range of issues.
- Seventy-one percent of Democratic voters say the way racial and ethnic minorities are treated by the criminal justice system is a very big problem for the country, while only 10 percent of Republicans agree.
- Climate change has a similarly large partisan gap, as 72 percent of Democrats say it is a major problem, but only 11 percent of Republicans think so.
- Gun violence is viewed as a major concern by 81 percent of Democrats, but by only 25 percent of GOP supporters.
- Seventy-seven percent of Democrats see the gap between rich and poor as a very big problem, but only 22 percent of Republicans agree.
- Sixty-three percent of Democrats say racism is a big concern, but only 19 percent of Republicans say so. Similarly, 50 percent of Democrats say sexism is a major problem, with only 12 percent of Republicans agreeing.
- While 75 percent of Republicans say illegal immigration is a major concern, only 19 percent of Democrats agree.
The only issues surveyed in which the partisan gap is negligible are: drug addiction, the federal budget deficit and violent crime.
The survey was conducted between September 24 and October 7 among 10,683 adults. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.