INDIANAPOLIS — With the final presidential debate just days away and Election Day closing in, 13News wanted to know what matters most to Hoosiers.
So far, the WTHR election survey has received more than 1,300 responses.
Here's what respondents said matters to them most, if they could only choose one:
- The economy (33%)
- Coronavirus response(26%)
- Other (18%)
- Racial equality (11%)
- Education (7%)
- Criminal justice reform (5%)
A word cloud shows the most popular individual answers to those who selected "other."
13News also hosted a virtual roundtable discussion with five voters from across the political spectrum.
"Health care has been my number one issue for several years," Jenny said. "I see healthcare as an economic issue. If you're a business owner and you're paying for your employees' premiums, you know how much that is draining on your business, how much it increases every year. And if you're an employee, it impacts your paycheck. It eats into what might have been a living raise."
Kyle said education is his most important issue.
"We've been homeschooling, and graduated two homeschoolers and graduating another one here soon. And we've been doing it for 13 years because our education system is so broken," he said. "It's the whole structure. The whole thing needs to be reworked."
"I would say the most pressing issue is how we are handling and responding to the coronavirus," Kelly said. "We will not be able to fully address education, criminal justice reform, the environment, any of that, until we can figure out...this virus...to make sure our citizens are healthy, to make sure all of our kids can go back to school."
"The issue that concerns me most is the move in this country toward socialism," Sovilla said. "If we don't keep our country free, it doesn't matter what kind of health care we have, what kind of education we acquire."
"I believe President Trump is trying to make the right changes, get the right people into place to make those changes," Kyle said. "I think he's trying to make choices that are best for this country."
"I think there is a loss of a moral compass in our nation," Kelly said. "I work at a school. If students behaved like some people in positions of authority (in this country) I would not allow them to attend school. If they call people names, insulted people, were disrespectful, I would have to make a decision that they cannot attend school because the community is not thriving with that kind of demeanor. That is the issue I am struggling with."
"What I hope to see in 2021 is unity," Gavin said. "I'm a conservative. My wife is a liberal. But we're still married…in the same house."
"(I'd like to see) less polarization, more civility," Jenny said. "Make politics boring again."