A majority of California voters anticipate job losses from artificial intelligence disruptions and are closely split on whether President Donald Trump or former President Joe Biden had more effective immigration policies, according to a recent poll.
A February 13-14 survey of 1,000 likely California voters found 63% believe advances in artificial intelligence will decrease the number of jobs in their industry, while just 7.9% think AI will increase jobs, and 29% expect no impact. The poll, conducted by Emerson College Polling and sponsored by Nexstar Media and Emerson College, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Voters also expressed opposition to data centers being built in or near their communities, with 47% opposing construction and 24% supporting it. Another 29% said they were neutral or had no opinion. The accompanying report stated opposition increased with educational attainment, with 62% of those holding postgraduate degrees opposing data centers.
On immigration policy, 41% of respondents said they preferred the Biden administration’s approach, compared to 38% who preferred Trump’s policies, while 21% selected neither. Given the poll’s 3-point margin of error, the difference falls within the statistical range, meaning that voters could either be tied or support Trump’s policies over Biden’s.
However, the margin of error also indicates that Biden’s approach could be at 44%, while Trump’s could be as low as 35%.
The economy ranked as the top issue facing California, cited by 37% of voters, followed by housing affordability at 19% and threats to democracy at 16%. Immigration was selected by 8% of respondents.
President Trump’s job approval rating in the survey stood at 32% approve, and 62% disapprove, while 6% were neutral or had no opinion. California Gov. Gavin Newsom was nearly evenly split, with 44% approving and 45% disapproving.
The sample was weighted by gender, age, and education based on U.S. Census parameters and voter file data. The gender breakdown was nearly even, with 51% female and 48.5% male respondents. More than half of those surveyed — 56.1% — reported having a college degree of fewer than 4 years.
According to the methodology, voters were contacted via text message and email using voter file data, with additional panel responses matched to the voter file. The survey was conducted in English.
Nexstar Media and Emerson College sponsored the poll.