Georgia’s older voters are heading into the 2026 election with household expenses and retirement security at the top of their political agenda — and with unusually high motivation to cast a ballot. Eighty-eight percent of voters age 50 and older rated their motivation to vote a 10 out of 10, compared with 62% of voters under 50. Their priorities read less like a partisan wish list than a monthly budget: groceries, health care, housing, gasoline and Social Security.
The findings come from an AARP-commissioned survey of 1,060 likely Georgia voters conducted in mid-July by bipartisan polling firms Fabrizio Ward and Impact Research. According to AARP Research, rising prices and affordability ranked as the leading concern among voters 50-plus, followed by immigration and border security, threats to democracy, taxes and government spending, Social Security and Medicare, and health care.
The affordability concerns are specific and stubborn. Atlanta Daily World reported that Adrion Bell, associate state director of AARP Georgia, identified groceries, medical costs, housing and gasoline as issues likely to shape the election across party lines.
Social Security Is The Red-Line Issue
Social Security is not merely another campaign talking point for older Georgians. Nearly half of voters 50-plus said it is or will be a major source of household income, a share that rises above 65% among voters age 65 and older, according to AARP’s detailed poll findings.
The survey also found that 92% of older voters would be more likely to support a candidate who promises to ensure workers receive the full Social Security benefits they earned, while 84% said they would favor a candidate who protects the program from cuts. Social Security was rated extremely or very important by 84% of voters 50-plus, putting retirement security squarely in the center of the campaign conversation.
Utility bills are another emerging pressure point. Atlanta Daily World reported that 75% of older voters worry new data centers could drive up electricity costs, while 85% said state policymakers should ensure residential customers do not absorb the expense of serving those facilities. For voters living on fixed or carefully managed incomes, the data-center debate is ultimately a fight over the next power bill.
The Age Split Is Already Showing Up In The Races
The poll also exposes a sharp age divide in Georgia’s marquee contests. A local report from FOX 5 Atlanta found Jon Ossoff leading Mike Collins 52% to 43% among all likely voters, while Collins led Ossoff 53% to 45% among voters 50 and older; in the governor’s race, Rick Jackson led Keisha Lance Bottoms 55% to 42% among the older bloc.
That makes the Senate matchup an especially delicate balancing act for both campaigns. The Ossoff-Collins contest has already become a closely watched Georgia Senate showdown, and the AARP numbers suggest that winning statewide will require more than energizing a party base.
The poll is not a prediction of Election Day, but it does sketch the battlefield. Candidates who talk about affordability, dependable Social Security, health care costs and utility bills are addressing the issues most likely to move Georgia’s most motivated voters — while those who overlook older voters are volunteering to make the state’s electoral math harder than it already is.
