DENVER—A look at voters’ views of Tuesday’s elections, according to data from preliminary exit polling conducted in Colorado for The Associated Press and the television networks:
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ERODING OBAMA’S BASE: Though President Barack Obama won Colorado on his path to re-election, Mitt Romney won over some of the women and moderates who helped propel Obama to victory in 2008.
Women favored Obama four years ago, but this time, both women and men were roughly split between the candidates.
Obama’s edge among moderates slipped this year, but they still slightly favored him. One group that stayed in Obama’s column: Hispanics. About three-fourths of Hispanic voters backed Obama.
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ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH: Amendment 64, the proposal to allow recreational use of marijuana, passed with support from a wide demographic. One major group that opposed it? Seniors. About two-thirds of those older than 65 opposed it. Gov. John Hickenlooper reminds residents marijuana is still illegal under federal law.
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COLORADO STATE OF MIND: More than half of Colorado voters say the economy is the most important issue facing the nation, more than the federal budget deficit, health care or foreign policy—and about three-fourths think it’s not in good shape.
About 4 in 10 think the U.S. economy is getting better. About half say George W. Bush is more to blame than Obama for current economic problems, while about 4 in 10 say Obama is more to blame.
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GUN LAWS: Just months after the mass shooting at a movie theater in a Denver suburb, 6 in 10 voters say they see the state’s gun control laws as about right. Roughly one-quarter call them too weak.
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IMMIGRATION: Two-thirds of voters think illegal immigrants working in the U.S. should be offered a chance to apply for legal status, while a quarter think they should be deported.
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OBAMACARE: More than half of voters think at least part of the nation’s 2010 federal health care law should be repealed, while 4 in 10 think it should stay the same or be expanded.
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The survey of Colorado voters was conducted for AP and the television networks by Edison Research. A total of 1,070 voters who voted early or absentee were interviewed by landline or cellular telephone from Oct. 29 through Nov. 4. Results for the full sample were subject to sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points; it is higher for subgroups.
