JCC survey finds north country views similar to rest of nation
Joel LaLone, the center's research director, told the club that many north country statistics mirror the rest of the country. The center conducted the survey just before the November election.
"This is learning about our electorate, our communities," LaLone said.
One area that north country residents feel has gotten worse over the years is their personal finance situation.
When residents were asked in 2017 if their family's personal finance situation has gotten worse, stayed the same, or gotten better in the last 12 months, just under 10% responded that it has gotten worse in Lewis County, and between 10-20% of those surveyed in Jefferson County and St. Lawrence County said their situation has gotten worse.
In the center's latest survey, those numbers have skyrocketed.
52% of Lewis County residents responded that their personal financial situation has gotten worse.
That number for St. Lawrence County is 50% and for Jefferson County it is at 41%.
The data from LaLone also showed the overall accuracy of the surveys as they predicted now-President Donald J. Trump would receive 61% of the vote in Jefferson County. He actually received 62% of the vote.
In Lewis County, the center's presidential prediction was two percentage points lower than the actual, and the biggest difference was in St. Lawrence County as the center was four percentage points lower than the final vote number. There was between a 2% and 8% margin of error.
Men across the tri-county region overwhelmingly supported Trump, with the president receiving 68% of their vote.
Overall, women supported Trump as well, at 51%.
A national exit poll from Edison that was provided by the Center for Community Studies showed that of the 22,966 surveyed, Trump was expected to get 55% of the male vote and 45% of the female vote.
93% of those who self-identify as conservative voted for Trump and the same percentage of liberals voted for former Vice President Kamala D. Harris in the tri-county region.
Nationally, according to the Edison poll, 91% of those that stated they were liberal said they were voting for Harris, while 94% of those who said they were a Republican stated they were going to vote for Trump.
Trump also was projected to have a 97% retention rate in the north country, meaning those who voted for him in 2020 also voted for him in 2024.
Nationally, the number from the Edison poll was 95%.
Harris also had a tremendous amount of loyalty, but less so than Trump as 94% of those who voted for former president Joseph R. Biden in the tri-county region said they were going to vote for Harris. Nationally, that percentage was 93% for Harris.
One area Trump focused on during both of his presidential campaigns was on immigration, and north country data may show why he focused so heavily on that issue.
LaLone said if a person said immigration was their top concern, they were 99% likely to vote for Trump.
About 10% of those surveyed said immigration was the biggest issue facing the country.
Of those who said protecting democracy was the main issue during the election, 90% were projected to vote for Harris.
"No matter all of the political commercials and rhetoric that we went through in those four years, the loyalty was massive in northern New York," LaLone said.
Also of note, 100% of men ages 40-59 surveyed in Lewis County with no college experience but a high school diploma were expected to vote for Trump, data from the Center for Community Studies stated.
More information on the latest data collected can be found online and the full report can be viewed at wdt.me/JCCSurvey.
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