Connecticut’s electorate is approaching the midterm elections with a deep distrust of the federal government, a broader sense their opinions are not valued by officials, and partisan differences over taxation and spending priorities in a state with high costs, unmet needs and wealth disparities.

With questions posed to a sample of more than 1,000 voters, a new Wesleyan SurveyLab CT poll takes a measure of voter attitudes towards their government, sources of news and the tensions inherent in a desire for both lower taxes and selected spending increases in an era of state budget surpluses.

The survey found a majority expressing greater trust in local government yet a significant disconnection from public officials. More than 60% said they strongly or somewhat agreed with this statement: “Public officials don’t care much what people like me think.”

Evidence of that disaffection was highest among voters who called themselves working class, as well as Republicans, whose party holds fewer than one third of the seats in the General Assembly and no statewide or congressional offices in Connecticut.

Slightly more than 70% of Republicans and working class agreed with the statement their opinions were unvalued by public officials, compared to 51.7% of Democrats and 48.5% of those identifying as upper class. Racial and gender differences were slighter.

Officials in both parties said they were not surprised by voters’ dour views toward government and public officials, including the extreme distrust of Washington.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said the opinion is the natural consequence of a system in Washington geared to pay to play.

“People have figured out that if you have money, you get listened to in a way that you don’t if you don’t have money. People know that the whole system is corrupt, because very big powerful interests have more and more power,” Murphy said. “So, when people say, ‘If I’m poor, I don’t get listened to like the rich and powerful get listened to,’ they’re right.”

State Rep. Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, the leader of a House Republican minority whose base of support has been shrinking in upscale suburbs and growing in blue collar ones, said he understands why working class voters feel especially unheard.

“I think that working class individuals don’t view government favorably, because they don’t feel it’s doing anything to help them,” Candelora said. “When we think about the services and where government focuses, traditionally we focus on items like the safety net and various healthcare subsidies.”

Gov. Ned Lamont and his Republican challenger, Ryan Fazio, addressed the question of disaffection in the context of their own campaigns, each stressing they work to ensure that voters feel heard.

“I make sure I accept as many invitations as possible, go places every day on the campaign trail, take questions in town halls in an unscripted fashion, because I think the most important part of campaigning is not telling people about yourself, but it’s listening to the public,” Fazio said.

Fazio complained that Lamont is shortchanging voters by not agreeing to more than two televised debates, both of which are taking place after Monday’s start of early voting. The first is Thursday night on WFSB, and the second is Oct. 27 on WTNH.

“I’m looking forward to this debate on Thursday, because voters should have an opportunity to see Democrat and Republican nominees for the office debate each other unscripted and answer the tough questions rather than hide from debates,” Fazio said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s taken until tens of thousands of early votes will already be cast for that debate to happen.”

Lamont said outreach to voters is part of his regular routine, whether he is campaigning or not.

“My job is to get out every time I can, talk to people, answer questions, be in front of folks, and make sure they know that I’m listening,” Lamont said. “And you know, the middle class is getting squeezed, doing everything we can to let you know we hear you, trying to make things better.”

Republican respondents in the poll were more favorably disposed than Democrats or independents towards the national government in Washington, D.C., where the GOP controls the White House and both chambers of Congress. More than 85% of Democrats and independents said they did not trust Washington either “very much” or “at all.”

But even GOP voters were mixed towards the federal government: 9.3% trust it “a lot” and 33.2% “somewhat,” while 40.5% don’t trust it “very much” and 17% not “at all.”

Fazio said he shared their distrust. “I’ve been distrustful of the federal government, whether it’s been Republicans or Democrats, for many, many years.”

The poll was designed by Wesleyan with input from The Connecticut Mirror and The Connecticut Project. It was conducted Sept. 22 to Oct. 7 by YouGov and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.54 percentage points.

As reported last week, the poll found Lamont with a double-digit lead over Fazio, as have other polls. Fazio, who spoke to reporters Monday afternoon after casting his vote in Greenwich, said his internal polling shows a closer race.

Voters want tax cuts — and more spending

The Wesleyan poll asked voters about Connecticut’s long string of budget surpluses and its fiscal guardrails. Nearly half those polled admitted, before being polled, to knowing “nothing at all” about the caps on spending and a requirement for surpluses over a certain amount to be held in reserve or used to pay down debt.

“If the state were to run a budget surplus this year, which option would you most prefer?” the poll asked.

A tax cut was preferred by 52.3%, while 25.8% opted for increased spending on programs and services and 14.5% favored paying down long-term debt. The rest were unsure.

But a majority of voters also said they wanted increased spending on childcare, K-12 education, healthcare, food assistance, housing, transportation, job training and aid to cities. Those desires varied by political affiliation.

Bare majorities of Republicans supported only increased spending for healthcare (51.4%) and transportation (50.1%). The sharpest partisan difference was on more spending for renewable energy: 65.5% of Democrats favored it, compared to only 15.9% of Republicans.

Majorities of Democrats and Republicans, if to varying degrees, expressed support for tax changes, including a permanent tax credit for low- and middle-class families, a cap on property taxes, elimination of the car tax and increased taxes on millionaires and billionaires. 

More specifically, more than 80% of Democrats favored higher taxes on annual incomes of $250,000 for singles and $500,000 for couples. GOP voters were split, 43% in favor and 46% opposed.

More than 60% of voters favored giving tenants greater protections against rent increases and evictions and requiring communities to build more affordable housing.

And the media?

Connecticut voters were more likely to trust local sources than national.

About 45% trusted national media either somewhat (40.9%) or a lot (4.8%.) Connecticut media was trusted a lot by 12.8% and somewhat by 51%.