New polling indicates a massive shift to Republicans among suburban women for the midterms, mainly for economic reasons.
Democrats counted on women to stay angry about the overturning of Roe over the summer, but concerns about inflation and other related issues dominate voter concerns.
Joshua Jamerson reports in the Wall Street Journal:
Republican Election Prospects Rise as Inflation Overshadows Abortion, WSJ Poll FindsVoters are giving Republicans a late boost in support just ahead of the midterm elections, as pessimism about the economy and the direction of the country jump to their highest levels of the year, a new Wall Street Journal poll finds.The survey, conducted about two weeks before Election Day, suggests that abortion rights are less important in voting decisions than voters indicated in the summer, after the Supreme Court in June ended the federal constitutional right to abortion. Republicans have regained momentum since then and now hold a slight edge over Democrats, 46% to 44%, when voters are asked which party they would support in their congressional district if the election were held today…The GOP has seen a shift in its favor among several voter groups, including Latino voters and women, and particularly white suburban women. That group, which the pollsters said makes up 20% of the electorate, shifted 26 percentage points away from Democrats since the Journal’s August poll and now favors the GOP by 15 percentage points…Jennifer Hackworth is a stay-at-home mother of three from Cranberry Township, Pa., outside of Pittsburgh. She’s noticed her kids’ clothes getting more expensive, as well as rising prices for milk and other grocery staples. “The Dems have kind of proved that they haven’t been able to make a change with [inflation]. It’s just gotten worse in the last couple of years,” said Ms. Hackworth.
According to Megyn Kelly, this is actually about more than economics.
Kellyanne Conway recently wrote about this issue at FOX News:
Women seeing red in midterm elections, poised to help Republicans win bigWomen are the majority of U.S. voters. They have real power at the polls, deciding who represents us in Congress and the White House. With early voting in earnest and Election Day imminent, surveys make clear “what women really want.”Concerns over rising crime and rising costs, challenges to their role as parents, threats to border security, national security, financial and physical security are prime motivators. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs in late June was followed by an increase in voter registration among women, donations to Planned Parenthood and Google searches about abortion. Recently, abortion “has faded” as a top issue in polls.Prominent Democrats have warned their party to talk less about abortion and more about economic angst. Sure, many women (and men) care about abortion, but polls show it is being trumped by the weekly demands of filling up the gas tank and grocery cart, and the monthly demands of rent and mortgage, utilities and insurance, car and tuition payments.
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