As the 2020 election draws closer and closer, talk about the key issues can become noisy. Between Republicans, Democrats, and every other party on the political spectrum, there’s a lot of debate about what the single most important issue is facing the nation today. Last month, Her Campus released a pre-election survey to over 500 college women to gauge what feels most urgent to them, and what they’re turning to candidates for in this upcoming election.Â
Of 13 issues presented in the survey, climate change and the environment won out by far, with 34% of the respondents indicating that environmental concerns and climate change are driving their votes the most. The top five also included reproductive rights (14%), gun control (12%), health care (12%), and concern for education and student debt (11%) much further behind. Marijuana and cannabis legalization, trade, and military are the issues of least importance.
These findings show a shift from 2016, when college women rated reproductive rights as their most important issue, with education coming in second.