GALLOWAY TWP. N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Immigration, abortion rights and the economy are the top issues motivating New Jersey voters, according to recent polls from the Stockton University Hughes Center for Public Policy. Early in-person voting is now open in New Jersey — and Election Day is a little more than a week away.
“The majority of voters here in this state support legal abortion and it is a big issue in the election for them and it will impact how they vote,” said research director Alyssa Maurice.
She said 73% of voters polled think abortion should be legal in most cases, compared to 8% who say illegal in most cases.
On immigration, most New Jersey voters say it's a good thing for the country, but 57% of people polled also either strongly or somewhat support deportation for those who entered the country illegally, according to the poll.
“We found that voters have actually shifted to the right on immigration since 2022, when we last asked a benchmark question about immigration levels,” Maurice said.
Maurice says there are partisan divides on perception of the economy with more than half of Democrats saying their personal finances are good and two-thirds of Republicans saying they are not.
They also polled people on offshore wind energy. It was once a hotly debated topic, but wind farms at the Jersey Shore has moved further down the list of priorities for voters.
“Only 24% of voters said it should be a priority for the state,” and even less so for people living inland, said Maurice.
“But most voters in New Jersey do care about climate change, whether they support wind turbines in particular.”