Rising crime is putting blue-state governor races in play

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Rising crime is emerging as a top issue for voters this year, adding another glaring political vulnerability to the Democrats’ ledger. A Gallup poll conducted last month found concern about crime at its highest level in nearly two decades, with 53 percent of Americans saying they worried a “great deal” about crime. Gallup found crime ranks as the third-most important issue among 14 tested, trailing only the economy and inflation. Republicans held a 15-point advantage when asked which party would handle crime better in a Fox News poll conducted this year—the highest partisan advantage in the history of the poll.

While the issue of crime will come up in races across the country, it will be most deeply felt in some governor races in states that have seen a large increase in violent crime, particularly in Democratic-run big cities. CONTINUED

Josh Kraushaar, National Journal

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Charlie Cook Discusses Campaign 2022 & Political News of the Day

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Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report and National Journal discusses Campaign 2022 and political news of the day.

Washington Journal, C-SPAN

Why young voters probably won’t cost Democrats in 2022

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… Biden’s approval rating with Americans 18-29 years old is just 38% in aggregated Gallup data since September. From January 2021 to June 2021, it was 61% — about the same percentage of the vote he earned among voters under 30 in the 2020 election.

Biden’s popularity among young Americans went from being higher than any other age group to being lower than almost any other age group.

Sometimes, however, approval ratings don’t tell the whole story. In this case, these approval ratings might suggest that the Democrats will lose among young voters in the midterm elections. A look at the generic ballot, on other hand, indicates that would be wrong. CONTINUED

Harry Enten, CNN

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Most Americans plan to keep masking on planes and transit even without a mandate

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Although a Florida judge earlier this week overturned the federal mandate to wear masks while traveling, most Americans (52%) say masks should still be “required on airplanes, trains, buses and other public transportation,” according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll. …

In response to a follow-up question asking whether they will continue to mask on transit regardless of the rules, most Americans — an identical 52% — say yes. Just 34% say they will not. A slightly larger majority of U.S. adults (57%) say they would support requiring masks to be worn in all public indoor spaces “if COVID cases start to rise again in your area” — something that COVID cases are already doing in 40 states and in Washington, D.C. CONTINUED

Andrew Romano, Yahoo News

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How to Make School Board Culture Wars Even Worse

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… The overwhelming majority of school board races around the country are nonpartisan. This was the case in Tennessee until Republican lawmakers, during an emergency session called to deal with Covid-related issues, rammed through legislation permitting county parties to hold primary elections to select school board nominees, who can then list their party affiliations on the general election ballots. It was a controversial move, and the opposition included state Democrats, droves of educators and school board officials and even some Republicans.

The law’s supporters insist that partisan contests will give voters a clearer sense of school board candidates and their values and, more broadly, that they will increase involvement and public interest in what are typically low-profile races.

Critics of the new system counter that the law will change the fundamental nature of the position — and not in a good way. Among their biggest fears: To win their party’s primaries, candidates will need to focus more on hot-button issues that appeal to base voters, leading to more and fiercer culture clashes. CONTINUED

Michelle Cottle, New York Times

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Fewer Americans see climate change as a priority than they did a year ago

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With issues like the economy and inflation, crime, and the war in Ukraine weighing most on Americans’ minds, the percentage who think climate change needs to be addressed right now has dipped some since one year ago.

This dip in urgency, while not steep, is widespread. Fewer people across age, race, and education groups, as well as partisan stripes, think climate change needs to be addressed right away than thought so a year ago. Still, most Americans do think it’s an issue that needs to be addressed now or least in the next few years. CONTINUED

Jennifer De Pinto, CBS News

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