Democrat voters who sat out last election want candidates further to the left - like AOC and Bernie Sanders, new poll finds
Kamala Harris' defeat to Donald Trump in the 2024 election put the Democratic Party in a spiral trying to figure out what went wrong. While some have speculated that Harris was 'too far left,' costing her the election, new research by Lake Research Partners and Way to Win suggests otherwise.
In a poll of 822 so-called 'Biden skippers,' those living in battleground states who voted for Biden in 2020 but sat out in 2024, Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez topped the list of public figures they viewed favorably. Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have campaigned on healthcare for all, environmental protection, and progressive wealth taxes.
Of those surveyed, 78 percent had a favorable view of Sanders, 67 percent had a favorable view of Ocasio-Cortez, followed by California Governor Gavin Newsom with 60 percent and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer with 50 percent.
'The conventional wisdom is really wrong on these voters,' Celinda Lake, pollster and founder of Lake Research Partners, told Rolling Stone. 'They're very clear about what they want and what they thought was missing in 2024: They want leaders who will fight for everyone… They're very health care-oriented…They want to crack down on Big Pharma… They're very populist. They have a clear economic agenda around affordability and making the wealthy pay what they owe in taxes.'
She added: 'You can't get these voters by just being against things. You have to be for something… You have to be offering solutions… And you have to be standing up and fighting.'
Perhaps the names that topped the list weren't surprising, seeing as Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have been zigzagging across the country on a 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour. Tens of thousands have packed into arenas to hear the pair bash Trump's presidency and urge Americans to come together to combat the 'billionaire class,' as Sanders puts it.
The poll unveiled other views held by voters who sat out the last election.
'Biden skippers' had an overall positive view of the Democratic party and almost half — 49 percent — said they check the news several times per day, the poll found. If they had voted in 2024, 56 percent said they would have voted for Harris while only 25 percent said they would have voted for Trump.
Still, the survey found most made an active choice to sit out the last election. Asked why they skipped casting a ballot, the most common answer was that they didn't like either candidate. Of the issues that impacted their decisions to not vote, Harris' economic views ranked in the top two. They believed she didn't 'have a strong enough plan to get the cost of living down' and they thought she 'only focused on home buyers and the middle class, not addressing deeper issues like poverty and inequality,' the survey found.
Still, 81 percent of 'Biden skippers' said they were motivated to vote in 2026. The top issues they care about are accessible and affordable healthcare, ensuring the wealthy pay what they owe in taxes, affordable housing, and curbing Big Pharma's price gouging for prescription drugs, the poll found.
These voters are 'really ready for messaging to go on offense against what the Republicans are doing — whether it's cutting health care that hurts children, giving billionaires more tax giveaways, doing absolutely nothing to cut costs,' Jenifer Fernandez Ancona, a co-founder of Way to Win, told Rolling Stone.
These desires map out a path forward for Democrats, as these voters seem to be 'uniquely winnable — and a key element to building back a more sustainable Democratic coalition, which is what we have to do,' Ancona said.
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