Elected leaders who really want to know what’s on voters’ minds heading into this fall’s general election will look beyond issues that are hot buttons for only one party in public opinion surveys. What matters more are the issues that resonate across the usual political boundaries.

That’s especially so in Colorado, where just under half of voters are unaffiliated — eclipsing the ranks of registered Democrats and Republicans alike.

Polling data reported this week by Colorado Politics offers such a glimpse — and a telling one. Colorado Health Foundation’s annual Pulse survey, conducted this summer, reveals a number of concerns at or near the top of voters’ minds — and not necessarily within only one of the two major parties.

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Some of the findings in the survey, conducted by pollsters of both parties, were almost a given. As noted in Colorado Politics’ report, 19% of the 2,400-plus respondents identified cost of living and inflation as the most important issue facing the state; 17% named housing affordability.

Those were the top two worries on the minds among respondents, unsurprisingly, and it also comes as no surprise the two issues polled high among Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliateds when the results were broken down by party affiliation. Only a few percentage points separated the three groups in responding to those issues.

The same goes for homelessness, which overwhelming majorities of all three groups said was an “extremely serious” or a “very serious” problem.

But some other superheated issues that, by the lights of conventional political wisdom, are often associated with one of the major parties — turned out to stoke plenty of passion outside party lines. Most notably, immigration.

Fully 85% of Republican respondents cited “illegal immigration” as an “extremely serious” or “very serious” problem in Colorado, while only 26% of Democrats viewed it that way — probably as expected in both cases.

What was eyeopening was that fully 49% of unaffiliated voters viewed illegal immigration as extremely or very serious. And remember, that’s nearly half of what is by far the biggest voting bloc in the state.

What’s more, the yearly survey found that, across all political affiliations, the percentage of those respondents who ranked immigration as the No. 1 issue has skyrocketed since last year — by a greater margin than any other issue. In 2023, only 1% ranked it the top problem facing the state. This year, 13% feel that way.

It’s an astounding change on an issue once viewed as a crowd pleaser for Republicans only. Democrats, take note.

A similar pattern is evident on some other issues that conventionally are seen as red meat for one party’s faithful — but that now register considerable concern among unaffiliated voters.

Climate change, for example, ranked sky-high among Democrats while only rating single digits among Republicans as an extremely or very serious problem. Both are apropos their respective parties’ platforms. But almost half of unaffiliated voters also felt as Democrats do about the magnitude of climate change in the pantheon of problems. So, Republicans, take note.

The top takeaways for elected leaders and policymakers of every political stripe?

Immigration is big among a broad swath of Colorado voters; ignore it to your peril.

Preach to the choir, and only the choir will vote for you.

As unaffiliated voters go, so goes Colorado.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board