Social Security an Issue in Senate Races

July 22, 2000

While Social Security is the biggest issue in the campaign between Vice President Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush, it is also being followed at the state level. In Minnesota, where pro-reform Republican Senator Rod Grams is facing reelection, a poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research found 43 percent of Minnesotans favoring personal accounts as the best way to address Social Security's potential shortfall, with 20 percent favoring government investing part of the trust fund in stocks, 20 percent favoring means testing, and 6 percent favoring an increased retirement age. In contrast, however, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that by 59 to 31 percent Minnesotans prefer to keep Social Security's defined benefit structure rather than move to a defined contribution system of personal accounts. (The Star-Tribune poll did not address solvency issues.)

In Missouri, the Senate race between Republican Sen. John Ashcroft and Democratic Governor Mel Carnahan has turned to Social Security, with Democratic Party advertisements featuring the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare criticizing Ashcroft's past votes on taxes and entitlements. The Ashcroft campaign responded that the ads are negative and "sleazy." Ashcroft favors personal accounts while Carnahan is opposed. The two are running even in the latest polls.

In Florida, a recent debate between Senate contenders Republican Rep. Bill McCollum, Democratic state Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson and Independent Willie Logan focused on Social Security. Nelson supports the Vice President's proposal for general revenue transfers to Social Security, while McCollum and Logan both favor personal retirement accounts. Logan, a state Representative and former Democrat, is one of the highest-ranking African American officials in the Florida state government. At present, polls show Nelson with a small lead over McCollum, with Logan in third place.

In the New Jersey Senate race between Democratic financier Jon Corzine and Republican Rep. Bob Franks, a new poll shows strong opposition to Corzine's plan for the government to investment part of the Social Security trust fund in the stock market, a plan shared with the President and Vice President. A Gannett New Jersey poll indicated 62 percent opposing Corzine's proposal, with 28 percent in favor. The poll indicated 70 percent favored Franks' plan for personal retirement accounts, with 20 percent opposed. The Senate race itself remains fluid. Corzine has a slight lead over Franks, 36 percent to 24 percent, but thirty-one percent remain undecided and 65 percent said they might change their minds on which candidate to support.

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