By Kayla Bergman, former staff member
With less than eight months from the Iowa caucuses, voters are beginning to think about the issues their candidate must support to gain their vote. Iowa is an important state for not only the candidates themselves, but voters throughout the U.S. This is because Iowa is the first state to weigh in on candidates from each party, and is one of the states that candidates look to when deciding whether or not to stay in the race.
A recent Des Moines Register poll shows climate change is an important issue for likely Iowa caucus-goers in 2020. The poll, conducted from June 2 to 5, 2019, surveyed 600 Iowans.
Survey participants were asked if having their candidate recognize climate change as the greatest threat to humanity is a must-have. Seventy-five percent of survey participants answered that recognizing the severity of climate change is necessary for them to support a candidate. This was the second-highest rated category by the participants.
One proposal for addressing climate change that some candidates support is the Green New Deal. The Green New Deal is an economic stimulus package meant to tackle both climate change and inequality. Seventeen presidential candidates have announced their support for this proposed policy.
In the recent Iowa poll, survey participants rated whether or not supporting the Green New Deal was a crucial requirement for them to caucus for the candidate. About a third, 33 percent, of participants answered their preferred candidate must support the Green New Deal, compared to 43 percent of participants who said it is not essential for their chosen candidate to support the proposal.
As the beginning of the Iowa caucuses inches closer, candidates will continue to face questions about their climate agenda. Voters have made clear this issue will remain a priority in the 2020 presidential election. Click here to view the complete poll results. Support for the poll was provided by the Des Moines Register, Mediacom, and CNN.
