Tea Party Republicans Most Motivated To Vote, Least Interested In Equal Pay For Women

The midterm elections are just around the corner, and Tea Party Republicans are leading the way in terms of the party that is most excited about casting their vote. But they are also the party that don’t find certain issues, such as equal pay for women and climate change, of extreme importance when it comes to casting their vote.

A recent Gallup poll showed that 54 percent of Tea Party Republicans had “given quite a lot/some thought” about the midterm elections, compared to 31 percent of other Republicans and 27 percent of those considered “non-Republicans.” Tea Party Republicans also ranked higher when it came to being motivated about voting. Seventy-three percent indicated that they were “extremely/very motivated to vote,” while 57 percent of other Republicans and 42 percent non-Republicans said the same thing.

When it came to which hot button issues were “extremely important” in the way they cast their ballot, some of the issues that Tea Party Republicans felt were extremely important to them included foreign affairs, the economy, taxes, immigration, and the deficit. Tea Party members ranked last on the topic of equal pay for women with 15 percent.

Tea Party members also ranked last on the issue of climate change with 7 percent. However, climate change didn’t seem to be an issue of extreme importance for others polled. Nine percent of Non-Tea Party Republicans found it to be important to their vote, and 26 percent of other party members felt the same. Thirty-nine percent of Tea Party members felt the “availability of good jobs” was an extremely important factor to the way they vote, compared to 43 percent of other Republicans and 47 percent of other voters.

Fewer people support the Tea Party this year than in 2010, and there are also more people who oppose it, a separate Gallup poll indicated. Twenty-four percent say they support the Tea Party now, while 31 percent oppose it.

In 2010, 28 percent supported the Tea Party, while 26 percent opposed it. The highest amount of support the Tea Party received was toward the end of 2010 at 32 percent. It has declined since then, with the lowest number being 21 percent toward the end of 2011. The beginning of 2012 had support 26 percent, and it’s remained at or near that level since then.

Opponents of the Tea Party had a steady hold at 29 percent since 2012. It dipped to 24 percent by the end of 2013, but then shot up to 30 percent in the middle of 2014.

In a related report from The Inquisitr, a federal judge has tossed out one Tea Party group’s lawsuit against the IRS. True the Vote claimed that the IRS delayed its non-profit status and also unfairly targeted the group and their activities because it’s a Tea Party group. The IRS eventually approved the group’s status, and Judge Reggie B. Walton noted that since there aren’t any other issues surrounding the case, there was no need for it to go forward.

[Image credited to Wendy Osher via Maui Now]