Poll: Republican voters want focus on economic issues, not culture wars

Alabama Republican primary voters have made it clear: they want action on the economy, not another round of culture wars.

A new Cygnal poll of 400 GOP primary voters in late July shows their top concerns ahead of the 2026 primaries are inflation and cost of living, taxes and government spending, and illegal immigration and border security. Infrastructure and roads, and jobs and the economy round out the top five.

“Almost 80 percent of Republican primary voters have a No. 1 or No. 2 issue in the economic sphere (of inflation, taxes and government spending, and jobs and economy),” said Mitchell Brown, a partner with Cygnal, speaking Saturday at the Business Council of Alabama’s annual Government Affairs Conference. The event drew about 850 attendees, including elected officials, business leaders, and lobbyists.

“These economic undertones are exactly what is going to not only win their vote, it’s going to help these people grow,” Brown told the crowd, which included candidates for state and federal office in 2026. “Economic policy is just good politics.”

That message runs counter to the current Alabama Legislature’s track record, which in recent years has pushed cultural legislation—restrictions on classroom content, limits on reproductive health care, and laws targeting LGBTQ+ youth—as its top agenda items. Despite that focus, nearly 59 percent of Republican voters say lawmakers should prioritize economic issues over cultural ones. Just 34 percent say culture-war bills should come first.

Brown said voters “want a better economic future for their children,” not more time spent on social fights.

The poll also provided an early look at the 2026 political landscape. In the governor’s race, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville—the only major candidate in the field—holds a 69 percent favorable rating, with 37.5 percent of voters saying they view him “highly favorably.” Tuberville is running for governor, leaving his Senate seat open.

In the race to replace him, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has already announced his candidacy. U.S. Representative Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, is expected to join the race later this week. Earlier speculation about Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl entering the race has cooled.

When asked today who they would support for Senate, 24 percent chose Marshall, 12.9 percent said Pearl, 8.8 percent backed Moore, and 3 percent named Jared Hudson. That left 51.4 percent undecided. Without Pearl in the field, the undecided number jumped to 57.5 percent.

The survey also asked voters how supportive they think the state is toward small- and medium-sized businesses. Just under 10 percent said “very supportive,” while 29.5 percent said “supportive.” Nearly a quarter described Alabama as either “unsupportive” or “very unsupportive.”

President Donald Trump continues to dominate among Alabama Republicans, with a nearly 80 percent favorable rating, including 62 percent “highly favorable.” Brown said those numbers aren’t likely to change in the next four years.

“There are a lot of people who have an unfavorable opinion of Trump that voted for (him) and they knew what they were getting this time around,” Brown said. “So the news can go out and say whatever, there could be a bad spin on a story, and those people won’t care because they went to the ballot box and selected him because they thought their life was easier in 2019 than it was in 2024.”