Exit poll in La.: economy, health care top issues

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Voters' views of Tuesday's U.S. Senate election in Louisiana, according to exit polling conducted for The Associated Press and television networks. Three of the eight candidates were considered major and invited to debates: Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu and Republicans Bill Cassidy and Rob Maness, who was backed by the tea party.
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WHAT'S IMPORTANT?
With four issues to choose from, Louisiana's voters were fairly evenly split between the economy and health care as most important. Nearly four in 10 voters went for each. Landrieu voters made up nearly six in 10 of those who gave health care the top spot. Those who chose the economy split between Landrieu and Cassidy, with about four in 10 of those voters supporting each. Foreign policy and illegal immigration each was chosen by about one voter in 10, with a slight leaning toward illegal immigration as more important.
ECONOMY
About seven in 10 Louisiana voters feel the national economy is not too good or poor, and four in 10 feel it's getting worse. Cassidy got about half of those voters who feel the economy isn't in good shape and about six in 10 of those who feel it's deteriorating.
HEALTH CARE
About six in 10 Louisiana voters say they believe the 2010 federal health care law went too far. Cassidy got six in 10 of them.
LANDRIEU AND OBAMA
Cassidy and Maness hammered at Landrieu as being too close to President Barak Obama, voting with him 97 percent of the time. Nearly six in 10 of Louisiana's voters said Landrieu votes with Obama too often. About one-fifth of those people voted for Maness and nearly seven in 10 of them for Cassidy.
OBAMA
About half of Louisiana's voters strongly disapprove of the way President Barak Obama is doing his job, and one in 10 somewhat disapprove. Two-thirds of those who strongly disapprove of the president's work voted for Cassidy. Landrieu got the votes of about nine-tenths of voters who think Obama is doing a fine job or at least approve somewhat of what he has done as president.
About one-third of Louisiana's voters described themselves as angry at the Obama administration. Nearly that many said they were dissatisfied with it. About six in 10 of angry or dissatisfied voters pushed the ballot button for Cassidy and about one-quarter voted for Maness.
REPUBLICANS
Nearly one-fifth of Louisiana's voters said they were angry at Republican leaders in Congress, and another third said they were dissatisfied. Landrieu got votes from about eight in 10 of the angry voters and half of those who said the word "dissatisfied" better fit their feelings.
RACE
About two-thirds of the voters were white, and Cassidy got about six in 10 of those voters. Landrieu got nine in 10 votes among African-Americans, who made up 30 percent of the total. The Census Bureau estimates that 32.4 percent of Louisiana residents are black.
IF THERE'S A RUNOFF
If Landrieu faces a runoff against Cassidy on Dec. 6, exit poll data indicate that Cassidy leads among Tuesday's voters. About half the voters said they'd vote for Cassidy and about four in 10 for Landrieu. About one in 20 said they would not vote in a U.S. Senate runoff.
JINDAL
About seven in 10 Louisiana voters do not think Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal would make a good president.
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The preliminary exit poll of 2,444 Louisiana voters was conducted for AP and the television networks by Edison Research in a random sample of 40 precincts statewide. Results were subject to sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points; it is higher for subgroups.
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Online: http://surveys.ap.org/exitpolls