CATONSVILLE — The economic numbers that matter most to Maryland voters are the ones on their grocery receipts and utility bills, not the stock market, according to new results from the UMBC Poll.
Eighty-one percent of Maryland voters rated economic conditions in the state as poor or fair, and just 12% expect the economy to improve within the next year, the Institute of Politics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County found. Voters’ views of the economy have grown more negative over the past two years, the pollsters said.
When asked what shapes their judgment of the economy, nearly all respondents pointed to the prices of everyday goods and services, their personal finances and the cost of housing. Fewer than half pointed to the stock market, and about two-thirds said job reports are a good signal, according to Public News Service’s report on the results.
“Everybody in the state gets an electricity bill or utility bill of some sort,” Mileah Kromer, the institute’s director, told Public News Service. “Those monthly or daily bills that people see every single day are what they really think about the most.”
No upside seen in data centers
The same survey found Marylanders see little good in data centers. Asked about effects ranging from water quality to jobs, most voters said the facilities would not help in any area, Kromer said, including the tax revenue and job creation that supporters often cite.
“That argument is just not resonating with Marylanders,” Kromer said. “What you are seeing from Marylanders is a pushback in terms of the potential for water pollution, air pollution, and the impact that these data centers will have on individual communities.”
Opposition did not depend on how close a facility would be. The poll split voters into two groups, asking one whether they would support a data center in their own community and the other whether they would support one anywhere in Maryland. Nearly three-fourths of each group said no.
That finding lands squarely in Southern Maryland, where the question is live. St. Mary’s commissioners said this month that no data center is coming to the county, while in Charles County, Commissioner BJ Bowling said a proposed ban lacked the votes and shifted his fight to power supply.
Earlier results from the same poll showed Gov. Wes Moore leading Republican Dan Cox 51% to 24% ahead of the Nov. 3 election, and a majority opposing data center construction anywhere in the state.
