Seven in ten voters say candidates only talk about race to get elected, survey finds

Almost three in four voters say they don't trust politicians when they discuss racial issues, arguing that candidates only do it to gain more support at the ballot box, according to a new survey by Rasmussen Reports.

The report, titled "Voters Don't Trust 'Race Card' Politics," highlight that voters' opinion on this practically haven't changed since Ramussen last asked the question four years ago.

70% of respondents in 2024 said they believe candidates only talk about race to get elected, while 69% gave the same answer in 2020.

The company surveyed 1,113 U.S. likely voters from May 20 to May 22, 2024. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence, the report says. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.

The poll also found that42% say political candidates talk too much about race in their campaigns, with 21% saying there is not enough discussion about race. 29% of respondents said the current level of discussion about the issue is about right.

The contrasting perspectives are evident in respondents' political affiliation. A larger percentage of Republicans (82%) say most politicians use racial issues only for electoral gain, compared to Democrats (55%). The figure is 74% among unaffiliated voters.

Regarding the extent to which racial issues are addressed in their public appearances, Democrats (22%) are less likely than Republicans (60%) and unaffiliated voters (46%) to believe that political candidates discuss racial issues excessively in their campaigns.

However, a majority of people in each racial category share the belief that most politicians raise race issues only to win votes, including 73% of whites, 61% of black voters and 66% of Latinos, according to the report.

Amid ongoing reports and polls highlighting Biden's challenges in connecting with the Latino electorate, his campaign has intensified efforts to engage this demographic, including in-depth interviews and media ads.

The Biden-Harris campaign has invested $30 million in a spring media buy, using a mix of Spanish-language accents as well as Spanglish, which tends to resonate with young Latino voters.

Hispanics are the second largest voting age group in the U.S. An estimated 17.5 million Latinos are expected to vote in November's presidential election, with 1 in 5 voting in a presidential election for the first time, according to a UnidosUS report.