The economy, high housing costs and crime remain the biggest issues concerning Anne Arundel County residents, according to a new survey from Anne Arundel Community College.

Of the 873 adult residents polled in October, 30% said the economy was the most important problem facing the county — a slight uptick from 26% this spring. Approximately 25% of residents said housing costs were an issue, a 1% increase from the spring survey, while only 20% of people surveyed said crime was a top problem — a 2% decrease from earlier this year.

The poll, conducted semiannually by Anne Arundel Community College’s Center for the Study of Local Issues, asked residents a variety of questions on local and national issues, as well as the upcoming election.

Affordable housing

Housing affordability in the county was deemed to be a serious issue among 82% of respondents, according to the survey, though only 34% of people said it was an issue for them personally. Nearly half, or 48%, said affordable housing was not a serious issue for themselves.

Those results lead to multiple questions, said Dan Nataf, the director of the Center for the Study of Local Issues.

“What are they willing to trade off to solve the supply shortage of moderately priced housing?” he said in an interview Friday. “What kinds of policies are they willing to accept?”

Encouraging new developments close to stores and public transportation whenever possible is one approach to solving that issue, and approximately 62% of respondents said they supported that option. But the survey presented several other options, including increasing funding for affordable housing in the county budget and requiring new developments of over 10 units to include a percentage of moderately priced units, both of which about 49% percent of people surveyed said they supported.

One of those solutions aimed at tackling affordable housing issues is coming. In early October, the Anne Arundel County Council passed a bill that will require new housing developments with 20 or more units to designate 10% of for-sale units and 15% of rental units to be affordable. The changes will take effect July 1.

The bill passed Oct. 7. The survey was conducted Oct. 11 to Oct. 20.

The legislation, known as the Housing Attainability Act, also allows more flexibility in site design, as well as a tiered system to provide a density bonus for developments that build affordable housing units, letting additional units be developed.

However, approximately 40% of survey respondents who were asked how they felt about allowing developers who include moderately priced units to have higher housing densities than allowed by the underlying zoning said they opposed such an approach. Only 20% of respondents said they supported it.

Presidential, U.S. Senate, congressional races

Since last fall, Anne Arundel residents have favored a Democrat for president over a Republican, the survey results show.

In fall 2023, 42% of people surveyed favored voting for President Joe Biden in the 2024 election, compared to 33% saying they would vote for former president Donald Trump. This spring, support for Biden ticked up slightly to 48%, while support for Trump dropped to 32%.

This fall’s results showed Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee for president, “widened the lead” that Biden held over Trump. Approximately 55% of residents who took the survey said they would vote for Harris, compared to 31% who said they would vote for Trump. Only 3% of residents said they would vote for a third party candidate, while 11% said they “probably wouldn’t vote.”

As of Nov. 1, there are more than 174,000 registered Democrats and more than 130,000 Republicans in Anne Arundel County, according to county board of elections data. There are roughly 106,000 unaffiliated voters in the county.

The race for U.S. Senate, however, is much tighter than it was in the spring, the survey shows.

Comparing the two candidates — Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, a Democrat, and former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican — 43% of county residents surveyed in October said they would vote for Hogan, compared to 42% in support of Alsobrooks.

Support for Alsobrooks among Democrats in Anne Arundel jumped from 57% in the spring to 78% this fall, according to the survey. Republican support for Hogan has not changed significantly since the spring, with 84% of Republicans saying they would vote the former governor to the U.S. Senate this fall.

Half of unaffiliated voters polled this fall said they would vote for Hogan, a percentage that did not change from the spring. Approximately 31% of unaffiliated voters surveyed in October said they would vote for Alsobrooks — a shift that favors her. It’s a jump from this spring, when 19% of unaffiliated voters favored Alsobrooks.

“A lot of people said, ‘Larry Hogan is a guy I know, I like the guy, he was governor, he kinda did an OK job’ … but still, there’s this impression that he’s not MAGA, he’s an anti-Trump Republican,” Nataf said. “The people who kind of are moderate conservatives, like that center-right-ish, find him okay.”

Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com, 443-679-7818 and x.com/nataliemjones.