2016 AARP New York Presidential Primary Survey of Registered Voters Age 50-Plus

This poll conducted less than two weeks before the New York presidential primaries reveals large proportions of registered voters age 50-plus in both parties remain undecided about who they will vote for.  However, the vast majority of these likely voters, regardless of political party, say it is very important that candidates lay out plans to update Social Security for future generations, and they agree that having a plan for Social Security is a basic threshold for presidential leadership.  

Key findings include:

• The vast majority of these likely voters, regardless of political party, say it is very important that candidates lay out plans to update Social Security for future generations.
  
  
• While Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump appear to be the front-runners with voters age 50-plus in New York, the large percentage of undecided voters in both parties suggest an open race among this critical voting bloc.
  
  
• For registered voters age 50 and older in New York, leadership is rated as the most important quality in a presidential candidate, with nearly nine out of ten Democrats and Republicans calling it very important.

AARP commissioned Precision Opinion to conduct this telephone survey (80% landline and 20% cellphone) of 800 registered voters age 50 and older in New York April 5-8, 2016.  The sample was drawn from a registered voter list and stratified by political party (401 registered Democrats and 399 registered Republicans).  The data is weighted by age and gender to reflect registered voter population in New York.  For more information on the survey, contact Kate Bridges, AARP Research, at (202) 434-6329 or KBridges@aarp.org.