Majority of voters say 'less likely' to support candidates pushing student loan forgiveness, survey

The majority of likely midterm voters are now less likely to support candidates in favor of President Biden’s student-loan forgiveness program, according to a new survey.

The survey findings were released by Convention of States Action and the Trafalgar Group and show 55.6% of the likely voters say they are "less likely to vote for a candidate who supports President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan."

Forty-nine percent of those surveyed said they are "much less likely" to support such a candidate, while 64.4% of independent voters said the same – with the midterm elections now about just eight weeks away. 

The survey follows Biden announcing in late August that people with student loans could have $10,000 to $20,000 of such debt forgiven. The president also said his administration will also allow debtors to cap repayment of their student loans at 5% of their income.

The survey queried over 1,000 likely midterm voters from Sept. 2-5.

Critics argued taxpayers will have to cover the right-off of the government-backed debt as part of Biden's plans to garner votes for fellow Democrats seeking office in November. Other concerns include adding debt amid high inflation.

"Joe Biden has had a lot of bad ideas," Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton after Biden announced his executive order on the debt. "But transferring billions in student loan debt to taxpayers – especially at a time of high inflation – might be his worst idea yet.”

The poll also found that 44.4% of voters say they are “more likely to vote for a candidate who supports Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan” while 30.9% say they are “much more likely” to do so.

"We’re seeing this reflected not just in the polling but on the ground as well with grassroots activists we talk to in every state,” said Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States Action. "This is looking like the sleeper issue that may have more impact in November than people suspect."

The survey follows another recent one that found the majority of Americans fear student loan cancellation will hike prices.

As The Center Square previously reported, the CNBC/Momentive survey released in August found 59% of those surveyed said they are concerned forgiving the debt will make inflation worse.

"Republicans are especially concerned: 81% of Republicans say student loan forgiveness will make inflation worse, nearly double the number of Democrats who say the same (41%)," Momentive said.