Most Important Issues to Voters for the 2024 Election

With the 2024 presidential election only months away, the major parties’ leading candidates are, from a historical perspective, uniquely unpopular. A recent Gallup poll found that President Joe Biden, the incumbent Democratic candidate, has an approval rating of just 41%. Meanwhile, with a 42% approval rating, the likely Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, is not faring much better.

For comparison, the average approval rating of all elected, post-World War II presidents at the start of their fourth year in office is 52%, according to Gallup. Other national polls further reflect widespread dissatisfaction with Biden and Trump. According to a January 2024 Reuters survey, about two-thirds of American voters would prefer to see new candidates in the upcoming presidential election. (This is Biden’s approval rating in every state.)

Still, a reshuffling of candidates by either major party is unlikely before November — and because Biden and Trump are equally unpopular, their likelihood of victory in 2024 will hinge largely on voter perceptions and assessments of their handling of key policy issues.

Using data from Morning Consult, a public opinion research company, 24/7 Wall St. identified the most important issues for voters in the 2024 presidential election. Issues are ranked by the share of voters who consider them “very important” when deciding who to vote for in the presidential election. All Morning Consult survey data was collected in November 2023.

The share of Americans who consider the issues on this list to be very important ranges from 27% up to 73%. These issues include broad categories as well as more specific issues that fall under the umbrella of larger ones, such as international affairs and the war in Ukraine.

As it often has been in past presidential elections, the economy is top of mind for most voters. Though, at the start of Biden’s fourth year in office, the U.S. economy is strong relative to much of the rest of the world, according to the Washington Post, most Americans trust Trump over Biden to manage the economy.

Meanwhile, policy areas Biden would likely be more trusted with than Trump tend to be less important to voters. Issues like climate change, the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and LGBTQ+ rights all rank at the bottom of this list, with fewer than half of survey respondents identifying them as very important. (Here is a look at the most partisan issues in American politics.)