Poll: Majority of voters concerned about socialists running for office

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(The Center Square) – A majority of American voters are concerned with socialist candidates running and possibly winning political office, according to a new poll.

The Center Square Voters’ Voice poll found that 55% of American voters are concerned about Democratic Socialist candidates running for and winning elected office in the U.S., while 37% aren’t concerned.

A slew of candidates running as democratic socialists appears to be raising alarms with a majority of American voters.

Of the 55% who are concerned, 35% are very concerned, while 20% say they are “somewhat concerned.”

Of those not concerned, only 17% say they are not too concerned, while 20% say they are not at all concerned.

The poll comes as several Democratic Socialist candidates have risen in popularity across the country. The Democratic Socialists of America are touting 67 wins across the country, with 93 running. However, the group includes 62 DSA candidates who have lost.

The latest poll comes on the heels of an August poll by The Center Square’s Voters’ Voice Poll, which found 63% of Americans are concerned with the growth of socialism or communism in American politics, while 29% were not concerned.

Of the 63% concerned in August, 36% said they were very concerned, and 27% are somewhat concerned.

The Center Square’s Voters Voice Poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, surveyed 2,527 registered voters from Oct. 5-7 via an opt-in online panel and text-to-web cell phone messages. The sample included 1,136 Republicans, 1,171 Democrats, and 220 True Independents, who did not lean toward either major party when asked.

Heading into the midterm elections in November, Republicans and several Democratic voices have warned against democratic socialists rising to power across the country, with the backing of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

It’s not only Republicans warning against socialism. U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., has been outspoken on several self-proclaimed democratic socialists gaining popularity within the Democratic party.

Earlier in the month, Fetterman cited a CBS News poll that found nearly 60% of Democrats have a positive view of socialism.

“The Democratic Party is becoming the party of socialism. 58% view socialism positively. 50% view capitalism negatively. I’m a proud free market capitalist. This is lunacy,” the senator wrote on social media.

Fetterman isn’t the only Democrat calling out the party’s growing socialist arm; veteran Democratic strategist James Carville has called on the Democratic Socialists of America to drop the word “Democratic” from their name to distance the party from leftist policies.

In contrast to the CBS poll, The Center Square’s Voters’ Voice Poll found that 49% of Democratic voters are concerned with the rise in socialism or communism, while 40% aren’t concerned at all.

The poll comes as several democratic socialist candidates across the country, including in New York, Colorado, Michigan, California, and even Florida, have received the nod from Democratic voters to advance to the November elections.

The poll's margin of error is +/- 2.0%.