Vast Majority of New Yorkers Favor $15 Minimum Wage
Rick Santorum, at the kids’ table debate on Wednesday, was the only one of all 15 Republican presidential candidates to support raising the minimum wage
A new poll finds that New York voters support raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour.
The poll released Friday by Quinnipiac University found 62 percent of voters supporting a phased-in increase.
This isn’t some online clickbait poll, either. It’s drawn from a fairly substantial sample size—1,366 voters. The American people are finally coming around to the understanding that raising the minimum wage won’t harm business. In fact, they realize that if you give workers more money, businesses will have more customers.
Opposition to the minimum wage increase is running low, at 35 percent. This is a popular idea: Americans are in favor of giving workers a raise. Why, then, was Rick Santorum the only Republican candidate to support a minimum wage during the entire five hours of Wednesday night’s debate? And why was Santorum supporting a measly 50-cent minimum wage increase? That would leave the minimum wage below $8 an hour.
I know math is tough, but Republicans are going to have to realize at some point that you can’t win a majority election with 35 percent of the vote. It’s time for Republicans to abandon their regressive fear and hatred of a minimum-wage increase. The numbers are running against them.
