Battleground state voters who will decide the balance of the U.S. Senate say that Social Security will be a deciding factor in their choice this November, according to a new survey released today by the nonpartisan Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Voters in Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas are far more likely to vote for a candidate who has a plan to reform Social Security.

According to the 2026 Social Security Trustees Report, Social Security’s primary Trust Fund will be fully depleted by 2032. At that time, absent reforms from Congress, all beneficiaries will face automatic benefit cuts of 22%, immediately. All U.S. Senators elected this year, and the President elected in 2028, will be in office at the time that this key program reaches insolvency.

The results of this comprehensive survey of voters in states with competitive Senate races, jointly conducted by Democratic firm Global Strategy Group and Republican firm North Star Opinion Research, include:

• 81% of voters are more likely to support a candidate this election with a plan to prevent automatic Social Security benefit cuts over a candidate who promises not to touch Social Security (17%).
• 77% of voters say lawmakers who promise not to touch Social Security are making the problem worse and agree delaying makes the problem harder to fix.
• 91% support Social Security reforms.  Notably, this level of support increases significantly from 49% in this survey, once respondents are made aware of the projected automatic cuts in 2032.
• 85% say it is more important than ever for lawmakers to fix Social Security, with the cost of living so high and rising every day.
• 88% of voters agree that current lawmakers should talk more about this problem.

Majorities of voters across party lines support potential reforms.

• 72% of voters support raising the payroll tax cap by an additional 1% on all income above $184,500.
• 66% support capping all annual Social Security benefits, so that no retired couple receives more than $100,000 per year.
• 65% support reducing the benefits that the top 20% of earners receive.
• 65% also support a balanced approach of gradual benefit adjustments and tax increases to preserve Social Security for the long haul.
• Voters overwhelmingly agree that government borrowing to prevent the automatic benefit cuts is unacceptable (29% support, ranking lowest overall and across each demographic group).

“The voters who will determine the balance of the U.S. Senate are calling on candidates to strengthen the future of Social Security,” said Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peterson Foundation. “Senators elected this fall will be in office in 2032 when Social Security recipients will face immediate 22% cuts, so all candidates should be putting forth solutions in this campaign to prevent this catastrophic result.  The good news indicated by this survey is that voters want this problem addressed, and there is strong bipartisan support for many available solutions that would sustain this essential program.” 

A recent analysis by the nonpartisan Committee for Responsible Federal budget illustrates how much voters in these five battleground states stand to lose, as set forth below:

This online poll surveyed 2,500 registered voters total across the five states (500 registered voters in each of the five states) between August 20 and August 27, 2026. It has a margin of error of +/- 4.4%. Click Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas for an analysis of results in each respective state.