New AARP PA Poll: Voters 50+ Could Tip the Scales in 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 22, 2022

CONTACT: TJ Thiessen, Tthiessen@aarp.org, 202-374-8033

New AARP Pennsylvania Poll: Voters 50+ Could Tip the Scales in 2022

Senate and Governor’s Races are Neck-and-Neck, with Pennsylvanians Wary about the Direction of the Country and State.

Harrisburg, PA – Today, AARP Pennsylvania released key findings from a 2022 election survey that shows candidates for Governor and U.S. Senate should pay close attention to Pennsylvanians over 50 heading into the summer campaign season, with issues like inflation, jobs and the economy, and Social Security on 50+ voters’ minds.

Pennsylvanians 50+ will be key in determining who wins in November. This bloc of voters regularly comprises an outsized portion of the electorate; in the 2018 mid-term elections, they made up nearly 61% of all Pennsylvania voters.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) narrowly leads State Senator Doug Mastriano (R), 49% to 46%. The race is even closer among voters 50 and older, with Shaprio leading 48% to 47%.  John Fetterman (D), the lieutenant governor, leads Mehmet Oz (R), 50% to 44% in the open race for U.S. Senate.

“Pennsylvania voters over 50 are a critical voting demographic that all candidates are competing for in this midterm election,” said Bill Johnston Walsh, AARP Pennsylvania State Director. “With the price of necessities like groceries, gas and prescription drugs skyrocketing, Pennsylvanians want their leaders to provide solutions to inflation and the rising cost of living. The message is clear, if candidates want to win, they better pay attention to the issues that matter to Pennsylvanians 50-plus.”

The survey also found:

• A significant majority think the country (84%) and state (77%) are headed in the wrong direction.
• Just 30% of voters say the economy is working well for them, with inflation and rising costs the biggest issue in both the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races.
• 87% of voters 50+ say they are extremely motivated to vote in November’s election.

AARP commissioned Fabrizio Ward and Impact Research to conduct this survey. The firms interviewed 1,382 likely Pennsylvania voters, which includes a statewide representative sample of 500 likely voters, with an oversample of up to 550 likely voters age 50 and older, and an oversample of up to 332 African-American/Black likely voters age 50 and older. The survey was conducted between June 12-19 via landline, cellphone, and SMS-to-web. The margin of error for the 500 statewide sample is ±4.4%; for the 855 total sample of voters 50+ it is ±3.3%. View the full survey results.

For more information on how, when and where to vote in Pennsylvania, visit aarp.org/PAVotes.