Democratic primary candidates are appealing to increasingly pro-immigration primary voters by touting liberal immigration policies, but the eventual nominee may run into trouble in the general election, a new poll suggests.
Democratic primary voters’ immigration views have trekked leftward since January, even as the average American is still much more likely than not to support conservative immigration policies, according to a Morning Consult/Politico poll taken Aug. 23-25.
In January, Morning Consult/Politico found 25% of likely Democratic primary voters were more inclined to vote for a primary candidate who wants to get rid of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement federal agency within the Department of Homeland Security. Since January, the share of Democrats who want to abolish ICE has jumped to 42% as President Trump continues pushing to stem the flow of illegal immigration while Democratic candidates oppose Trump’s plans and even accuse him of trying to harm immigrants.
However, across all political parties, for every person who said they were more likely to back someone who plans to dismantle the 20,000-person agency, two people say they are less likely to back that candidate. That is, while 25% favor a candidate who wants to get rid of ICE, 49% say it made them less likely to pick that person.
And 45% of voters across all parties said they would be more likely to vote for someone in the general election who took a “hard line against illegal immigration” compared to 30% who said they were less likely to back a candidate who endorsed that view.
In January, Democrats are split on the volume of immigration. In the poll, 31% of Democratic voters said they were more likely to back a candidate who supported more immigrants being admitted to the U.S. The same number said they were less likely to back a candidate who wants more immigrants.
Seven months later, the share of Democratic primary voters who would back a candidate who wants more immigration has risen to 40% while those who are less likely to back such a candidate dropped to 24%.
The overall online survey was taken among 1,987 registered voters and had a 2 percentage point margin of error among the total pool of respondents. The poll did not specify margins of error among Democratic respondents.
