(NewsNation) — With just one week to go before the 2022 midterms, high prices remain the top issue for voters across the political spectrum, according to the latest NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll released Wednesday.
Nearly 45% of respondents said inflation is the most important factor in determing who they vote for, including 58% of Republicans, 43% of independents and 32% of Democrats.
That could bode well for Republicans, who voters trust more than Democrats, 43% to 35%, when it comes to handling the economy and inflation.
“We see most Democrats trust the Democratic Party more and most Republicans trust the Republican Party more but if you ask independents, they trust Republicans by 10 points relative to Democrats on economic issues,” said Kiel Williams, a senior data scientist at Decision Desk HQ.
Last month, the annual inflation rate dropped slightly to 8.2%, but remained near levels not seen since the 1980s. Gas prices have fallen in recent months and now average $3.76 per gallon — down from the $5.01 record high set in June but still 10% more than a year ago.
Those financial concerns are pushing Americans to get out and vote. More than 75% of those surveyed said they are “very likely” to cast a ballot in the upcoming election and 65% said they are “more motivated” to vote compared to previous midterms.
Respondents were almost evenly split when it came to their preferred voting method.
About one in three people (32%) said they plan to vote in person on Election Day, compared to 24% who plan to vote early by mail and 23% who plan to vote early in person.
Republicans were far more likely to say they plan to vote in person on Election Day (40%) compared to Democrats (25%).
“When we look at the early voting electorate, especially the early by mail voting electorate, and the in person Election Day vote, you’re almost looking at totally separate electorates,” Williams said.
About one in three Democratic respondents said they intend to vote early by mail versus one in five Republicans who said the same.
That trend aligns with partisan preferences during the 2020 election, when Biden voters were nearly twice as likely as Trump voters to say they voted by mail.
Abortion (17%) and crime (9.5%) are the two other issues voters ranked at the top of their priority list.
Nearly 30% of Democrats said abortion is the most important factor in determing who they’ll vote for next week.
Perhaps surprisingly, Democrats were also more likely than Republicans to rank crime as their top issue, 9.5% to 8.7% — 11.6% of Independents said crime was the most important issue.
A majority of voters (56%) polled said they disapproved of Democratic President Joe Biden, with 44% approving.
According to the latest Decision Desk HQ model, Republicans have a 50.8% chance of controlling the Senate and a 79.5% chance of taking back the House.
