{"id":130195,"date":"2026-03-05T09:55:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T09:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/130195\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T09:55:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T09:55:07","slug":"pa-voters-question-the-economy-back-shapiro-and-clash-over-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/130195\/","title":{"rendered":"PA voters question the economy, back Shapiro and clash over ICE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFranklin &amp; Marshall College released a new poll highlighting how Pennsylvania voters feel about key issues, including personal finances, ICE and Gov. Josh Shapiro.Video above: Check out the latest weather forecast. The poll sampled 353 democrats, 347 republicans and 134 independents from Feb. 18 through March 1. Direction of the state and personal financesState direction: More voters say Pennsylvania is on the wrong track (44 percent) than headed in the right direction (39 percent).Personal finances:36 percent say they\u2019re worse off financially than a year ago, 20 percent say they&#8217;re better off.More expect to be worse off (25 percent) financially next year than better off (23 percent).Top issue: The economy is voters&#8217; top concern, driven by issues like jobs, housing costs, and higher gas and utility prices.Among voters citing economic problems, Democrats lead Republicans on who can handle it best: 45 to 25 percent.Pennsylvania politics: Shapiro&#8217;s standingJob approval: Gov. Josh Shapiro is rated excellent\/good (50 percent) vs. fair\/poor (44 percent), consistent with October 2025.Governor\u2019s race: Shapiro leads Republican challenger Stacy Garrity, 48 to 28 percent in the 2026 race. National politics: Trump and the U.S. HouseTrump job approval: 39 percent rate President Trump excellent\/good, while 61 percent rate him fair\/poor.Generic U.S. House ballot: Democrats lead Republicans by 7 points, 44 to 37 percent. Issue ratings have been slipping since October 2025:Immigration handling: 47 \u2192 42 percent excellent\/very goodForeign policy handling: 42 \u2192 37 percent excellent\/very goodImmigration enforcementAttention level: 94 percent say they\u2019re closely following immigration and deportation activity.Support for current ICE methods: 55 percent oppose, 45 percent support. Support is very high among Republicans, but much lower among independents and Democrats.Limits on ICE tactics (majorities oppose):Deadly force against protestors: 76 percent opposeEntering homes without a judicial warrant: 75 percent opposeWearing masks: 57 percent opposeUsing unmarked vehicles: 53 percent opposeWho should be targeted for deportation (voter views):Non-citizens who have been in the US for LESS than five years, with no criminal record: 54 percent yesNon-citizens who have been in the US for MORE than five years, with no criminal record: 48 percent yes, 49 percent noNon-citizens with families in the U.S.: 46 percent yes, 51 percent noMajorities oppose targeting those with asylum\/protected status (76 percent), visa\/green card (86 percent), in the naturalization process (89 percent), or already naturalized (89 percent). Democracy, separation of powers and electionsDemocracy satisfaction: 65 percent dissatisfied, 35 percent satisfied (with big partisan differences).Balance of power: Voters say Congress (64 percent) and courts (55 percent) have ceded too much authority to the presidency.Presidential limits: Most say Trump has overstepped (50 percent) or pushed (19 percent) the limits of the presidency.Trust in PA elections: 66 percent have a great deal\/fair amount of trust in election processes.Election control: More than 70 percent oppose shifting election administration from state to federal control.  Link: Franklin &amp; Marshall College Poll March 2026\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tLANCASTER, Pa. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Franklin &amp; Marshall College released a <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.ghost.io\/c\/6f\/65\/6f6547c9-4c4e-45a8-b12e-56fdcab002c9\/content\/files\/2026\/03\/KEYMAR26_Topline-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">new poll<\/a> highlighting how Pennsylvania voters feel about key issues, including personal finances, ICE and Gov. Josh Shapiro.<\/p>\n<p>Video above: Check out the latest weather forecast. <\/p>\n<p>The poll sampled 353 democrats, 347 republicans and 134 independents from Feb. 18 through March 1. <\/p>\n<p>Direction of the state and personal finances<\/p>\n<p>State direction: More voters say Pennsylvania is on the wrong track (44 percent) than headed in the right direction (39 percent).<\/p>\n<p>Personal finances:<\/p>\n<p>36 percent say they\u2019re worse off financially than a year ago, 20 percent say they&#8217;re better off.More expect to be worse off (25 percent) financially next year than better off (23 percent).<\/p>\n<p>Top issue: The economy is voters&#8217; top concern, driven by issues like jobs, housing costs, and higher gas and utility prices.<\/p>\n<p>Among voters citing economic problems, Democrats lead Republicans on who can handle it best: 45 to 25 percent.Pennsylvania politics: Shapiro&#8217;s standing<\/p>\n<p>Job approval: Gov. Josh Shapiro is rated excellent\/good (50 percent) vs. fair\/poor (44 percent), consistent with October 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Governor\u2019s race: Shapiro leads Republican challenger Stacy Garrity, 48 to 28 percent in the 2026 race. <\/p>\n<p>National politics: Trump and the U.S. House<\/p>\n<p>Trump job approval: 39 percent rate President Trump excellent\/good, while 61 percent rate him fair\/poor.<\/p>\n<p>Generic U.S. House ballot: Democrats lead Republicans by 7 points, 44 to 37 percent. <\/p>\n<p>Issue ratings have been slipping since October 2025:<\/p>\n<p>Immigration handling: 47 \u2192 42 percent excellent\/very goodForeign policy handling: 42 \u2192 37 percent excellent\/very goodImmigration enforcement<\/p>\n<p>Attention level: 94 percent say they\u2019re closely following immigration and deportation activity.<\/p>\n<p>Support for current ICE methods: 55 percent oppose, 45 percent support. Support is very high among Republicans, but much lower among independents and Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>Limits on ICE tactics (majorities oppose):<\/p>\n<p>Deadly force against protestors: 76 percent opposeEntering homes without a judicial warrant: 75 percent opposeWearing masks: 57 percent opposeUsing unmarked vehicles: 53 percent oppose<\/p>\n<p>Who should be targeted for deportation (voter views):<\/p>\n<p>Non-citizens who have been in the US for LESS than five years, with no criminal record: 54 percent yesNon-citizens who have been in the US for MORE than five years, with no criminal record: 48 percent yes, 49 percent noNon-citizens with families in the U.S.: 46 percent yes, 51 percent noMajorities oppose targeting those with asylum\/protected status (76 percent), visa\/green card (86 percent), in the naturalization process (89 percent), or already naturalized (89 percent). Democracy, separation of powers and elections<\/p>\n<p>Democracy satisfaction: 65 percent dissatisfied, 35 percent satisfied (with big partisan differences).<\/p>\n<p>Balance of power: Voters say Congress (64 percent) and courts (55 percent) have ceded too much authority to the presidency.<\/p>\n<p>Presidential limits: Most say Trump has overstepped (50 percent) or pushed (19 percent) the limits of the presidency.<\/p>\n<p>Trust in PA elections: 66 percent have a great deal\/fair amount of trust in election processes.<\/p>\n<p>Election control: More than 70 percent oppose shifting election administration from state to federal control.  <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/storage.ghost.io\/c\/6f\/65\/6f6547c9-4c4e-45a8-b12e-56fdcab002c9\/content\/files\/2026\/03\/KEYMAR26_Topline-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Link: Franklin &amp; Marshall College Poll March 2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Franklin &amp; Marshall College released a new poll highlighting how Pennsylvania voters feel about key issues, including personal&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2258,60501,61,442,2443,47191,60500,28,30,29,31918,7172,41496,5019,3415,2920,43388,78],"class_list":["post-130195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-democrats","tag-deportation-activity","tag-economy","tag-gov-josh-shapiro","tag-ice","tag-limit","tag-pa-voter","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-percent","tag-power","tag-presidency","tag-republicans","tag-shapiro","tag-support","tag-trust","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}