New Polling Shows Affordability is Top Concern for CT Voters Heading into November

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 19, 2026
Contact:
Meghan Holden, The Connecticut Project, meghanholden@ctproject.org
Ziba Kashef, Wesleyan University, mkashef92@wesleyan.edu

NEW HAVEN – A new Wesleyan SurveyLab poll shows affordability concerns are top of mind for Connecticut voters, especially working class voters. The research, conducted by Wesleyan SurveyLab and commissioned by The Connecticut Project, with input from The Connecticut Mirror, was conducted between September 22 and October 7 and included 1,000 Connecticut voters.

The survey’s findings show that voters support a wide range of tax cut proposals, including the renter’s tax credit and child tax credit, approve of increasing taxes on the wealthy, and back more spending on a range of government programs and services. Survey results also showed that voters feel pessimistic about the economy and their own financial situations, with working class voters especially feeling stressed.

When asked to select the most important issue facing Connecticut from a list of 17 items, the top were all related to affordability: 40 percent said inflation/cost of living, 17 percent said taxes, 7 percent said the economy/jobs, and 6 percent said healthcare.

Key poll findings include:

• Voters support a wide range of working class and middle class tax cut proposals: 82% support eliminating the car tax; 78% support capping property taxes at 2% per year or the level of inflation, whichever is greater; 73% support creating a renter’s tax credit for low- to middle-income renters; 70% support creating a permanent child tax credit for low to middle-income families.
  
  
• Voters support raising taxes on wealthy residents: 76% support increasing taxes on millionaires and billionaires; 65% support raising taxes on individuals making more than $250,000 a year or couples making more than $500,000 a year.
  
  
• Voters support increased spending on a range of government programs and services, with healthcare, housing, k-12 education, and food assistance topping the list.
  
  
• Voters support renter protection proposals: 72% support capping rent increases at 5% per year; 64% support just cause eviction protections.
  
  
• 60% of working class voters say their financial situation has gotten worse in the last year, compared to 43% of middle class and 30% of upper class respondents.
  
  
• Working class voters (46%) were more likely than middle class (32%) or upper class voters (32%) to say that they had considered moving out of Connecticut in the last year, with 87% citing cost of living as the reason.
  
  
• To save money, 62% of working class voters report cutting back on or going without food in the last year, compared to 26% of middle class and 7% of upper class voters; 48% of working class voters report postponing visits to the doctor in the last year, compared to 21% of middle class and 9% of upper class voters.

“Cost of living issues and expenses are top of mind for Connecticut voters,” said Erika Franklin Fowler, Professor of Government at Wesleyan University. “Affordability is far and away the top issue voters see facing the state as over 8 in every 10 think it is at least somewhat hard to earn a living wage and afford basic goods in our state.”

“Connecticut voters are feeling the pain of the cost of living, and they clearly support proposals to make our state more affordable and fair,” said Meghan Holden, director of marketing and communications for The Connecticut Project. “With rent eating people’s entire paychecks, the ongoing decimation of SNAP, and looming changes to HUSKY, working class people especially have shown they believe our state needs to prioritize housing and renter protections, healthcare, and food assistance. In this survey, voters have also sent a clear message that they want more fairness in our tax code for working class and middle class people.”

For a copy of the polling memo, survey toplines, crosstabs, and methodology by Wesleyan SurveyLab: https://surveylab.wescreates.wesleyan.edu/uncategorized/wesleyan-surveylab-ct-poll-lamont-leads-in-governors-race-while-connecticut-voters-express-concern-about-cost-of-living