Supporters of Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong cheer at her election night party on Tuesday in Madison. Hong, a self-described democratic socialist, narrowly lost the primary.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Some swing voters might not be quick to reject socialist political candidates.
NPR observed two online focus groups of Nevada voters on Tuesday night, and 10 of the 12 participants said they wouldn’t automatically think negatively of a politician who identifies with the left-wing ideology. The voters, who supported Joe Biden in 2020 and then cast ballots for Donald Trump in 2024, had a mix of political affiliations — six self-described independents, four Republicans and two Democrats.
“I don’t just take one thing and then label or judge somebody just for that,” said Jasmine, a 33-year-old independent voter. (The participants agreed to take part in the focus groups on the condition that their last names would not be used.) “I need to just get to know them completely before I make a judgment or a decision on who I’m going to vote for.”
Melody, a 37-year-old independent, added: “I wouldn’t immediately think bad of someone. I would want to talk a little bit more about it with them because … to me, they’re at least trying to think of a solution where everybody has rights and everybody has food, everybody has a house, everybody has a job. They’re at least looking for something like that for everyone.”
The focus group participants offered their opinions on Tuesday, during the Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary, which a self-described democratic socialist narrowly lost. There’s a debate in the Democratic Party about whether recent wins by democratic socialist candidates will spell trouble with more centrist voters come November.
A recent Pew Research Center survey found that about a third of Democratic voters view democratic socialist leaders positively and that a plurality of all Americans neither like nor dislike democratic socialist politicians.
Focus groups are not scientifically significant like polls, but they do provide insight into what voters are thinking and feeling about certain issues. These focus groups were held by messaging firm Engagious and marketing research group Nelson Recruiting. NPR partners with them each month as part of the Swing Voter Project.
Rich Thau, the president of Engagious, moderated both focus groups Tuesday. He said he was surprised that so few of these swing voters, who he said “tend to be attracted to more centrist political positions,” said they would not think negatively about any candidate who identified as a socialist.
“I was struck by the receptivity that they had toward democratic socialism as a concept, that they weren’t willing to automatically dismiss it,” he said. “And I thought generally that they were way more open to socialism than any swing voter otherwise would be.”
The voters were also asked to weigh in on the difference they observe between garden-variety Democrats and democratic socialists.
Marianne, a 57-year-old independent voter, said she thinks traditional Democrats are “more centrist” and cater to more corporate interests.
“But they also care about the people as well, the working people,” she said. “Whereas socialist Democrats are more about community.”
Some voters struggled with the definition of socialism or said they didn’t know enough to explain the difference between Democrats and democratic socialists. But Justin, a 39-year-old independent, echoed Marianne, saying his gut reaction is that Democrats are more in line with business interests.
“Democrat socialists will actually look at the people,” he said, “[and] where they can give back to the programs and the people and actually break them off a piece of that revenue.”
Freddy, a 34-year-old independent, was one of the two voters who said they view socialists negatively, but he offered that they were more likely than Democrats to “aggressively target the wealthy for more money for the good of all.” Overall, though, he said socialists hold radical positions.
“Anything that far left, it’s not for me,” he said. “It’s too extreme.”
Economic anxiety may drive an openness to socialism
The 12 voters were roughly split on approving of Trump’s job performance, yet 10 of the 12 participants said they feel more economically anxious now than when Trump took office last year. And seven reported carrying a higher debt load now than they were a year ago.
Katrina, a 53-year-old independent voter, said it was hard to put into words why she’s so anxious, but she knows she is.
“I feel anxious that nothing has really changed,” she said. “I mean, Trump talks about this ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,’ but, it’s like, I don’t see any difference. In my life, I don’t.”
Thau connected the openness to socialism with this growing economic anxiety.
“It’s sort of the economic version of any port in a storm,” he said. “In other words, these people are struggling economically. … So they need help. And they think that socialism apparently is going to offer them the help that they’re looking for.”
Marianne was among those who said she is carrying more consumer debt lately.
“I used to pay cash for groceries,” she said. “Sometimes I put it on credit cards because the price has just gone up so much in certain areas. And also my son lives with me. My son has worked on the [Las Vegas Strip] for 22 years and he can’t make ends meet, so I have to make the ends meet for him.”
Corrina, a 51-year-old Republican, said she’s stressed because of rising home insurance costs.
“That’s why I’m having more debt,” she said. “So it’s changing my mortgage payment because taxes have gone up and insurance has gone up.”
“We’re living paycheck to paycheck,” Jasmine added, “yet inflation is going up, things are going up.”
While focus group participants were open-minded about socialism, they drew a line on communism.
“I’m giving contempt prior to investigation with communism. You got me there,” Justin said. “It’s just ingrained from childhood. Living in the ’90s, communism, it’s very ingrained that it is negative.”
Trump often uses the term “communist” to describe his political opponents, rather than “socialist.”
