Skip to content

Why Working-Class Voters Choose Culture Over Economics

Democratic policies such as raising the minimum wage and expanding access to health care poll highly among voters, yet the party supporting none of these positions just won the White House and both chambers of Congress.

Why Working-Class Voters Choose Culture Over Economics
Photo by David Todd McCarty on Unsplash
Published:

Photo by David Todd McCarty on Unsplash

Democratic policies such as raising the minimum wage and expanding access to health care poll highly among voters, yet the party supporting none of these positions just won the White House and both chambers of Congress.

Using data from Echelon Insights, Dan and Shawn explore how declining trust in government leads working class voters to choose cultural alignment over economic interests, why Democrats keep losing voters they take for granted, and what electoral reforms could help bridge the divide between policy preferences and voting patterns.

Dan Sally

Dan Sally serves on the Digital Strategy Council for Rank the Vote and is host of the podcast ‘You Don’t Have to Yell’, which discusses today’s most pressing issues without the partisan spin.

IVN is rated Center by AllSides and High Credibility by MBFC — follow our independent journalism in your feed.

Add IVN on Google

Contact IVN

Questions about this article or our coverage? Send us a message. A free IVN member account is required.

Message sent

Thanks, we’ll review it and get back to you if needed.

Message not sent

Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

Sign in to send a message

Messages are tied to your IVN member account. Signing in is free and takes a few seconds.