With the midterm congressional elections scheduled for November 3, polls show that many Americans are dissatisfied with the direction their country is taking, and most are experiencing economic anxiety about their current circumstances and their ability to improve them in the future.
The upcoming elections will include voting for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as a third of the Senate seats. The Republican Party, led by President Donald Trump, holds a slim majority in both chambers. If they lose to the Democratic Party, this will put pressure on Trump in the remaining two years of his second term, potentially limiting his ability to implement his desired policies.
Economy is the main concern for voters in these elections. A Pew Research Center poll conducted from September 28 to October 4 found that 84% of registered voters say the economy is "very important" to them when voting in the midterm congressional elections.
The cost of living tops the economic issues that voters care about, as they view the economy from the perspective of the costs families bear in their daily lives, rather than macroeconomic indicators of growth, which currently look good, with the U.S. economy growing at 2% annually.
Another factor increasing the cost of living for Americans is the rise in mortgage interest rates to over 7% in September, the highest rate in two years, meaning higher monthly payments for millions of Americans who took out loans to buy homes.
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey on healthcare, published on October 6, about six in ten voters are concerned about healthcare costs, and about half see it as "extremely important" when deciding whom to vote for in the midterm congressional elections.
