Democrats and Republicans in a virtual tie for control of the House in midterms, poll shows

People who say abortion is their top priority are more motivated to vote than any other issue group, Emerson College poll director says

(Getty Images)

A new poll shows that Democrats virtually eliminated Republicans’ lead in who Americans prefer to control Congress in the 2022 midterm election a month after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.

A poll by Emerson College spoke to 1,078 registered voters between 19 July and 20 July and it had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

“Those who say abortion is the top issue facing the nation are more motivated to vote this November than any other issue group,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of polling for Emerson College, said in a statement.

In the past month, the economy dropped from 58 per cent to 51 per cent as the most important issue to voters, while crime and abortion access were tied at 9 per cent each as the second most important issue, followed by immigration.

Republicans have sought to win back the House of Representatives mostly by campaigning on rising gas and grocery prices. Last week’s Consumer Price Index report showed that inflation jumped 9.1 per cent between June 2021 and June 2022.

But for voters who say abortion is their top priority, 89 per cent say they are very motivated to vote in November. By comparison, 76 per cent of voters who name the economy as their top priority say they are very motivated to vote. And 80 per cent of voters who cite abortion as their top priority say they will vote for Democrats compared to 8 per cent who say they will vote for Republicans.

Similarly, 45 per cent of voters surveyed they would vote for Republicans while 44 per cent say they will vote for Democrats, wiping out Republicans’ 9-point lead from a month ago. At the same time, 46 per cent of voters think Democrats in Congress have been ineffective in passing Democratic policies.

Despite this, President Joe Biden still holds a 40 per cent approval rating, virtually unchanged from last month, and a 53 per cent disapproval rating.

In addition, 74 per cent of voters say they are very motivated to cast their ballot in November while 14 per cent say they are somewhat movitated to turn out.