The Ebola threat could affect the outcome of two key Senate races, according to focus groups with female voters conducted Monday in Louisiana and North Carolina.
The bipartisan “Walmart Mom” focus groups were conducted with women who have shopped at the discount retailer at least once in the last month and have at least one child age 18 or younger living at home.
The discussions found that concern over Ebola spreading in the United States now tops worries about the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
But neither political party appears to be profiting from this new dynamic, when measured against which candidate Walmart moms prefer in competitive contests in Louisiana and North Carolina, where Democratic Sens. Mary Landrieu and Kay Hagan are each battling for another term.
In North Carolina, the 10 participants split down the middle, with 5 saying they would support Hagan on Nov. 4 and five saying they would vote for state House Speaker Thom Tillis, the Republican. In Louisiana, three expressed support for Landrieu, while the other seven declined to back her or her two GOP opponents, Rep. Bill Cassidy and retired Air Force officer Rob Maness.
Both groups had harsh words both for President Obama and Congress.
“We have rarely heard Walmart moms use heated rhetoric about the president, and these groups are no exception. However, views toward him are troubled and lack enthusiasm,” reads the focus group memorandum. “Despite these views, he is not the factor in most moms’ votes for the Senate, as more care about ‘where the candidates stand on the issues.’”
The focus groups were part of a series of such research conducted for Walmart by a bipartisan group of political pollsters, including Republican Neil Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies and Democrat Margie Omero of Purple Strategies.
Per the focus group memo, this is how participants felt about Ebola:
