Nearly half of Republican voters are following news about the 2016 election very closely, compared with about 40% of Democrats.
A Gallup survey finds 47% of Republicans are very engaged with election news this year while 39% of Democrats say they are following election news closely. That’s been the trend all year, as Republicans are far more engaged with the election than Democrats.
Although Republicans have been consistently more likely than Democrats to say they are following election news closely this year, more activity is left in the race for the Democratic nomination than for the GOP nomination, which appears to be settled. How this might affect the attention gap remains to be seen.
More broadly, attention to the election will most likely rise for all Americans in July, as the two parties hold their conventions, and then again in September and October, as the campaign comes down to its final two months. The latter period will include four planned debates, the first of which is scheduled for Sept. 26 at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Whether the Democrats can generate more interest from their constituency and hence increase the probability of higher voter turnout is one of their central challenges moving toward November.
