Poll shows focus on Trump, immigration, health care
What mid-term voters had on their minds
WASHINGTON — Health care, immigration and President Donald Trump were high on voters’ minds as they cast ballots in the midterm elections, according to a wide-ranging survey of the electorate conducted by The Associated Press.
AP’s VoteCast survey of more than 115,000 voters paints a portrait of an enthusiastic yet deeply divided electorate.
Democrats seized the House and Republicans retained control of the Senate.
Here are some take-aways from VoteCast:
Health care and immigration
Health care was at the forefront of many voters’ minds: 26 per cent named it as the most important issue facing the country. Immigration was not far behind, with 23 per cent naming it as the most important issue. Nearly 4 in 10 of those who voted for a Democratic House candidate named health care as the most important issue facing the nation, while about as many Republican voters considered immigration to be the top issue. Others considered the economy (19 per cent), gun policy (8 per cent) and the environment (7 per cent) to be the top issue.
Is it all about Trump?
Nearly two-thirds of voters said Trump was a reason for their vote, while about a third said he was not. Nearly 4 in 10 voters said they cast their ballots to express opposition to the president, while a quarter of voters said they voted to express support for Trump.
Women voters
Women voted considerably more in favour of their congressional Democratic candidate: 56 per cent voted for the Democrat, compared with 41 per cent voting for the Republican. Women ages 18 to 29 voted strongly Democratic, with 65 per cent of those voters favouring the Democratic candidate. White women were narrowly divided in their views: 50 per cent of white women voted for the Republican, while 47 per
cent voted for the Democrat. Among non-white women, 80 per cent voted for the Democrat.
Enthusiasm
A large majority of voters were enthusiastic heading to the polls, with nearly 9 in 10 reporting that they were extremely or very interested in the midterm election.
Nonvoters
Nationally, 70 per cent of registered voters who chose not to vote in the midterm election were younger than 45. A wide share of those who did not vote — around 8 in 10 — did not have a college degree. About as many nonvoters were Democrats (32 per cent) as Republicans (32 per cent).
The economy
Voters have a positive view of the state of the national economy — about two-thirds said the condition of the economy is excellent or good, compared with a third who said it’s not good or poor.
Health care
A quarter of voters said the Affordable Care Act, often called “Obamacare,” should be repealed entirely. About another quarter said parts of the law should be repealed. Around a third of voters said it should be expanded, and about 1 in 10 preferred it be left as it is. Nearly 6 in 10 voters said it should be the responsibility of the federal government to make sure that all Americans have health care coverage.
Supreme court
About three-quarters of voters said the debate over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination was very or somewhat important to their vote. Those who said it was very important to their vote were more likely to support the Democratic candidate.
Roughly half of voters approve of Trump’s handling of Supreme Court nominations.
Russian collusion
The country is evenly divided on whether Trump’s campaign co-ordinated with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election. Democrats overwhelmingly said there was collusion, and Republicans overwhelmingly said there was not.
#MeToo
Roughly three-quarters of voters were very or somewhat concerned about women not being believed when they make allegations of sexual misconduct. About the same share said they were very or somewhat concerned about men not being given the opportunity to defend themselves against allegations of sexual misconduct.
Trump approval
The survey found that 45 per cent of voters approve of Trump’s job performance. More voters gave Trump a positive rating on his handling of the economy (56 per cent), and around half approve of the president on border security.