While 62% of respondents indicated that national issues made biggest difference in how they cast their votes, just 33% indicated that local issues decided their vote. Republicans had recently been pressing their case that local issues would decide the races.
In what is seen as more bad news for Republicans, corruption ranked as the top issue among those casting ballots, with 42% indicating that concern in that area drove their vote.
Terrorism ranked second, with the economy and Iraq following shortly behind. Of those indicating the war weighed heavily in their vote, 57% said that they disapproved of Bush’s handling of the situation, with just 41% indicating they approved of his performance.
Not clear to me yet just how good news this is. I would feel more confident if Iraq had ranked higher as an issue.