Poll finds rising economic anxiety among rural Georgia voters

Voters in rural Georgia might be feeling some anxiety around economic issues and a willingness to rethink the role of government.

A new poll found that a somewhat surprising number of rural voters in Senate battleground states were feeling deep economic anxiety.

The Center for Rural Strategies commissioned the survey, and Dee Davis, president of the organization, said the results caught researchers off guard.

“They were full of doubt, uncertainty; not happy with the way things were going,” Davis said. “That was a little surprising. We’re not used to seeing this much pessimism in rural America.”

The rising cost of living, especially food prices, was the most important issue for 55% of rural voters. While 46% of respondents said the rural economy had gotten worse over the past year, those who said they wanted the government to “get out of their way” dropped from 42% in 2023 to 32%.

Davis said the shift is possibly due to prolonged economic pressure. Only a slim majority of respondents said the economy was not working well for them personally, and Trump’s favorability was at 52% favorable and 46% unfavorable.

“Right now, people are admitting that they need government support,” Davis observed. “There’s weakness in the private sector and the high costs of living are really influencing rural voters.”

The online survey was conducted with 600 rural voters from March 18-25 by Lake Research Partners with a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.