While a majority of Americans strongly support increasing Social Security, most were unaware of proposals from Republicans and the Obama Administration to reduce these benefits, according to recent Public Policy Polling (PPP) data.

Polling five House districts and five states to gauge public sentiment about Social Security, PPP found that in seven of ten surveys, the majority of respondents did not know that both Republicans and President Obama had proposed reductions.

Additionally, an average 73.7% of respondents reported no prior knowledge of pending legislation in both chambers that would increase benefits.


As, on average, 65% of voters in key swing states support increasing Social Security, almost 70% of those polled in each of the districts and states said they would be less likely to support a candidate who voted to reduce these benefits.

This data can have a significant impact on those districts facing a reelection contest in 2014, such as recent polling that shows Mitch McConnell a “dead heat” in Kentucky’s Senate race between Mitch McConnell and Alison Lundergan Grimes.

“These results indicate that if Democrats align themselves with expanding Social Security benefits in this round of negotiations, they can be seen at the forefront of an issue that has significant public support,” wrote Jim Williams of PPP.

The districts surveyed were Arizona-2, California-24, California-52, Massachusetts-6, New York-1. The five states surveyed were Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina and Washington.

Written by Jason Oliva