Inflation and cost of living were the top national issues, and they were national. Governors of both parties were popular and did well promoting their own economic progress and policies. But voters did expect candidates for the House and Senate to address the spiking inflation and cost of living. They […] Read more »
How Much Did a ‘Dobbs Effect’ Blunt the Red Wave?
The expectations for 2022 midterms were set early on. The Democratic Party was expected to easily lose control of the House and potentially the Senate as a result of lackluster approval ratings for Joe Biden and concerns about issues like crime and inflation. But then came the end of Roe […] Read more »
How Joe Biden and the Democratic Party defied midterm history
… Midterms are supposed to be the time for the opposition party to shine. That should especially be the case when there is once-in-a-generation inflation and when the vast majority of Americans think the country is on the wrong track. Instead, Biden and the Democrats are in a position to […] Read more »
Why were the midterm elections close? Exit polls offer clues.
A set of countervailing political forces may have contributed to the closeness of this year’s midterm elections, according to the current results of the national exit poll conducted for CNN and other news networks by Edison Research. It remains uncertain which party will control either the Senate or the House […] Read more »
How Abortion Boosted Democratic Candidates in Tuesday’s Midterm Election
While inflation was clearly at the top of voters’ minds in this year’s midterm elections, the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade played a significant role in motivating key voting blocs that likely contributed to the Democratic party’s stronger-than-expected performance, a new analysis of KFF’s supplemental questions on the […] Read more »
It wasn’t just “the economy stupid”—it was abortion
… Inflation is unpopular with both parties—there is no pro-inflation and anti-inflation party. In fact, if we’ve learned anything about politics in our polarized time it’s that voters see almost all issues through their partisan lens. Democrats worried about inflation could think that Joe Biden was dealing with it and […] Read more »