It remains uncertain which social gathering will management the Senate or the Home of Representatives subsequent yr, with votes nonetheless being counted and key races too early to name. Nevertheless it’s clear that the “purple wave” wished for by Republicans did not materialize in 2022.
Voters had been broadly discontented with the state of the nation, the economic system and President Joe Biden, a national exit poll found – the form of political surroundings that conventionally results in a midterm backlash towards the social gathering within the White Home. However different elements, together with views on abortion and Biden’s predecessor, might have helped maintain Democrats aggressive.
Listed here are a few of the elements that had been on the minds of voters:
President Biden: Biden’s approval score was underwater among the many citizens, with solely about 44% of voters approving, about 55% disapproving and roughly 45% saying they strongly disapproved. Voters had been extra prone to say Biden’s insurance policies had damage than helped the nation and extra prone to say their vote was meant to oppose the president than say it was in help of him.
The economic system: A slim plurality of voters, about 31%, known as inflation their prime problem, and roughly 8 in 10 mentioned inflation had been a hardship for them personally. By roughly a 12-point margin, voters mentioned they trusted the GOP over the Democratic Social gathering to deal with inflation.
However the closeness of the election suggests it wasn’t solely a referendum on an unpopular president or a response to grim views of the economic system.
Abortion rights: The Supreme Courtroom’s overturning of Roe v. Wade introduced abortion to heart stage, with about 27% of voters calling it their prime problem. About 6 in 10 voters felt negatively concerning the choice, with almost 4 in 10 expressing anger. Democrats had a roughly 11-point edge over the GOP when it got here to which social gathering voters trusted to deal with points associated to abortion.
Former President Donald Trump: Trump was on voters’ minds almost as a lot because the incumbent. Roughly 28% of voters mentioned they supposed their vote to specific opposition to him, only some factors decrease than the roughly one-third who mentioned they had been expressing opposition to Biden.
Democrats win over Biden skeptics: The energy of particular person candidates possible helped Democratic candidates win over some voters who had been disenchanted with the Democratic president. In New Hampshire, as an illustration, Democratic incumbent Maggie Hassan stored her seat by profitable almost all voters who authorized of Biden, in addition to roughly one-fifth of those that disapproved.
In Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race, the projected Democratic winner, Josh Shapiro, picked up roughly one-quarter of commonwealth voters who disapproved of Biden. In a variety of races, Democratic candidates gained outright amongst voters who considerably disapproved of Biden.
What are exit polls?
CNN Exit Polls are a mix of in-person interviews with Election Day voters and in-person interviews, phone and on-line polls measuring the views of early and absentee by-mail voters. They had been performed by Edison Analysis on behalf of the Nationwide Election Pool. Read more here.
