Natural State News

A recent study shows that voters in the state are concerned about the economy but have an overall positive impression of the direction that the state is headed in.

The University of Arkansas 23rd annual Arkansas Poll, conducted by the University of Arkansas, revealed that Arkansans were worried about the economy, along with health care and politics, with the degree of concern on the economy staying relatively steady at around a quarter of voters, and health care and politics concerns falling by 11 points.

“Most of the movement in our ‘top issues’ responses is attributable to the alternating way we ask the question,” Janine Parry, director of the Arkansas Poll and professor of political science at the University of Arkansas, said in a release from the university. “This year, as in all odd-numbered years, it was truly open-ended. That means that while it’s easy to lump together answers like ‘good jobs’ and ‘wages’ into a broad category like ‘the economy,’ a response like ‘vaccines’ is not as clearly lumped together with ‘prescription costs’ into ‘health care.’ The bottom line is that Arkansans, like Americans, nearly always direct our attention to the same three or four things: economics, health care, education and, lately, their frustration with politics.”

Some 61% of voters believe that the state is headed in the right direction, a decline of 16 points from last year, according to the Life in Arkansas section of the poll KNWA reported Nov. 4.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson's approval rating fell to 57%, compared to 69% in 2020 and 61% in 2019. While state voters have economic concerns, the unemployment rate in the state fell from 4.2% in August to 4.0% in September.