Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton won decisive victories Tuesday in New York’s presidential primaries, cementing their leads in the delegate race. Beyond the vote tallies for the winners, what issues were top of mind for voters as they headed to the polls? Below are five charts, with results from the NBC News Exit Poll, that provide a number of insights.
More than two-thirds of New York Democratic voters said they believe the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns have energized the Democratic Party. The Democratic primary has been more competitive than many expected when the candidates launched their campaigns, and even though Sanders trails behind Clinton in delegates, his campaign has vowed to fight on until the convention this summer.
Despite the concentration of major financial firms in New York City, voters in both parties had negative views of Wall Street. Democrats were significantly more negative, with 63 percent saying that Wall Street does more to hurt the nation’s economy, and only 30 percent who feel it helps the economy. Republicans were not quite as negative, but still slightly more GOP primary voters say that Wall Street hurts (48 percent) rather than helps (43 percent) the U.S. economy.
Republicans said they cared most about change, blunt talk and values when choosing their candidate. Missing from this list? Electability, which few GOP voters ranked as a top priority.
Gun control has been a major issue in the Democratic primary, with Clinton hitting Sanders over what she says is a more lax position on regulating firearms. Sanders has defended his position on gun control by referring to his home state of Vermont, which has little restriction on guns. New York voters said Clinton would be the better candidate to handle gun policy, 60 percent to 36 percent for Sanders. A majority of New York Republicans said they are very worried about the direction of the U.S. economy, with 28 percent saying they are somewhat worried about it. Jobs and the economy are perennial election issues, and Trump has consistently claimed that the recovery after the Great Recession still has a long ways to go.
Sam Petulla
NBC News Exit Poll Desk Recommended
