Raising The Minimum Wage Is A Great Issue For Democrats

The 2014 election is entering its final stage, with less than 3 weeks now until election day -- and candidates are looking for that thing which will put them over the line. There is one issue that Democrats could use to win -- raising the minimum wage. It is an issue that a significant majority of Americans in every state agrees with, and an issue opposed by nearly every single Republican candidate.

The folks at Public Policy Polling looked at six states that have important senate races -- races that could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. And they looked at what the people thought of raising the minimum wage in those states. Note that a majority of voters in all six states think the minimum wage should be raised to at least $10.10 an hour (and even bigger majorities don't think a family could be raised on the current minimum wage).

Perhaps even more important is how voters would consider candidates who oppose raising the minimum wage. That is illustrated in the chart below, and it's something that should worry Republican candidates. By opposing a higher minimum wage, they lose a lot more votes than they gain.

Smart Democratic candidates should campaign very hard on this issue in the coming couple of weeks. It could easily make the difference between winning and losing in a close race. And not just in these six states. Other PPP polls have shown that people in other states with close senate contests (like Colorado, Arkansas, and Georgia) also have significant majorities supporting a $10.10 an hour minimum wage.

Public Policy Polling interviewed 767 likely voters in Louisiana, 974 likely voters in North Carolina, 812 likely voters in Illinois, 659 likely voters in Iowa, 1,175 likely voters in Kentucky, and 841 likely voters in Wisconsin between October 10th and 12th. The margins of error for the surveys are +/-3.5% in Louisiana, +/-3.1% in North Carolina, +/- 3.4% in Illinois, +/-3.8% in Iowa, +/-2.9% in Kentucky, and +/-3.4% in Wisconsin.