Gallup poll: Voters favor the GOP's stance on the issues most important to them

last updated 8 January 2015

A new Gallup poll found that when it comes to important issues that will determine how they vote in November, registered voters favor the Republican stance.

In the poll, Gallup asked registered voters to rate the importance of 13 issues they say are most important in determining how they will vote in November, and to indicate "which party would do a better job on each issue." Gallup found that the Republican Party fared better than Democrats on four of the six top issues.

The top issues voters say concern them most and which they think the GOP will do a better job of handling are: the economy, the way the federal government is working, the situation with Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria, and the federal budget deficit. Democrats earned higher ranks on only one of voters' six top priorities, equal pay for women. Gallup concluded that Democrats are "strong on issues voters think are less important," like climate change and abortion/access to contraception.