Sixty-eight percent of registered voters support designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations – even if that means using the U.S. military in Mexico and Central America, just as we did to fight al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
- Just 22% oppose the action.
WHY IT MATTERS – Deaths from drug overdoses continue to set records driven by a massive increase in deaths from fentanyl – a deadly synthetic opioid.
THE INTRIGUE – The support is strong even though the survey question made a direct comparison between fighting drug cartels in Mexico and Central America and fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
- This suggests voters believe the drug overdose crisis is bad enough to risk military casualties.
HOW TO USE THIS DATA – Treating drug cartels as if they are terrorist groups is a potential magnet issue that draws support from all voter demographics.
Click on the image below to read the full report…or read the summary below.
More than 2 in 3 voters support designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations – even if that means military action in Mexico and Central America.
- This includes 68% of all registered voters and 69% of likely voters. Only 22% of both groups oppose.
- Less likely voters support naming drug cartels as terrorist organizations by a narrower 60%-25%.
- Republicans (80%), independents (63%), and Democrats (60%) support the action.
- Older voters (Gen X: 71%, Boomer+: 72%) support naming the cartels as terrorists more strongly than younger voters (Gen Z: 55%).
- America’s New Majority voters support the action 74%- 17%.
- New Majority voters leaning toward voting for a Democrat for Congress support the action 70%-20%, compared to just 48%-40% support from Left Minority voters. This is a significant split.