On the heels of a brutal fight over health care, a recent Gallup survey reveals that the economy continues to be the top issue on voters’ minds as we approach the mid-term elections.  This is no surprise as Americans learn even more about the President’s new health care law that balloons the deficit by more than $100 billion and increases taxes by $569 billion.

The survey shows that a full 57% of voters said the economy is “extremely important” in determining their vote this November.  No other issue draws such a response.  It is important to note, however, that 52% of Independents, a crucial voting block, say the federal budget deficit is “extremely important” in determining who they will support this November.  Clearly, voters are alarmed by the record federal spending and the projected $1 trillion annual deficit increases over the next decade.

The handling of the federal deficit dramatically affects how states conduct their own business.  It is why we have seen so much concern, at the state level over the health care bill and other rampant federal spending measures.  Republican candidates across the country are taking this to heart and running on platforms of reigning in spending, cutting taxes, and reducing deficits.

Republican Matt Gaetz in Florida’s Fourth House District recently became the 51st Republican to win a state legislative special election since President Barack Obama’s election.  The overwhelmingly successful campaign was centered on the economy.  “As we watch Democrats preside over the massive expansion of government in Washington and the explosion of deficits and the national debt, Matt believes that the growth of government at all levels should be limited,” said the campaign.  “Matt Gaetz is a fiscal conservative who understands government must live within it means.”

Rick Gunn, running for North Carolina’s 24th Senate District, lists the concerns of his voters as “job creation, the economy, government taxes and government spending.  ‘Many fiscal conservatives have been preaching for years you cannot sustain the spending levels that our General Assembly has elected to maintain,’” Gunn told college students at Elon University.

The bottom line is that voters are deeply concerned about out-of-control spending and job-killing tax hikes.  It’s an issue that affects all levels of government. Republicans are on the same page as the voters, and winning elections now in the lead-up to November based on that shared concern.