October 31, 2024
Most adults feel anxious, frustrated, and interested about the 2024 presidential campaign, but few are excited. Democrats and Republicans tend to have similar emotions about the upcoming election, however Democrats are more likely to be anxious compared with Republicans. Independents are just as frustrated, but less excited, less interested, and less anxious than their partisans.
Black adults feel more excitement about the contest between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump than white adults and are less likely than white adults to feel frustrated or anxious about the campaign. Hispanic adults are also less frustrated about the campaign than white adults.
Eighty percent of Democrats say they are interested in the presidential campaign, along with 77% of Republicans. Independents are less interested in the campaign (54%).
Democrats, Republicans, and independents are similarly frustrated by the race for president (72% vs 68%), but Democrats are more likely to be anxious compared with Republicans (79% vs 66%). Again, independents are less anxious (49%) than Democrats or Republicans.
Few adults report feeling particularly excited by the campaign. Only 37% of Democrats, 41% of Republicans, and 24% of independents say they are excited about the contest between Harris and Trump.
Black adults are experiencing more excitement (46%) about the presidential campaign than white adults (33%). They are less likely than white adults to feel frustrated (55% vs 74%) or anxious (62% vs 73%) about it. Hispanic adults also feel less frustrated (63%) about the campaign than white adults.
The nationwide poll was conducted October 24-28, 2024 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,233 adults. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.6 percentage points for all respondents.
- Suggested Citation: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (October 2024). “Americans are interested, frustrated and anxious about the upcoming election” https://apnorc.org/projects/americans-are-interested-frustrated-and-anxious-about-the-upcoming-election/
