This year’s midterm elections were extremely important for the very existence of democracy in America. As stated by Maxwell Palmer, associate professor of political science at Boston University, “We’re facing economic challenges, inflation, a war in Ukraine, and control of Congress that will affect policy on a lot of critical areas right now” (2022). With all of these issues on the line, every election, especially the Senate races, became crucial. “Right now we have an exactly 50-50 split in the US Senate, and Vice President Harris is the tiebreaker. So Democrats have the slimmest possible majority” (Palmer, 2022). If Democrats attained majority in the Senate, the Biden administration would be more capable of passing legislative action and carrying out necessary duties. On the other hand, if Republicans attained majority, we would have a divided government and progress would be difficult.
The weight that these elections carried further emphasized the influence of battleground states, which are states that have closely divided support for both the Democratic party and the Republican party. Pennsylvania is among the list of battleground states. The results of races in battleground states had the potential to change the status of government.
These elections were a pressing matter at the state level. Due to recent Supreme Court decisions, the legality of abortion relies on decisions made at the state-level of government. With that being said, the candidate elected at the state-level in this year’s midterm elections would have a great deal of power, regarding abortion and women’s rights.
Considering the severity of this year’s midterm elections, young voter turnout rate was critical. “We estimate that 27% of youth (ages 18-29) cast a ballot in 2022, making this the midterm election with the second-highest youth voter turnout in almost three decades” (CIRCLE, 2022). The young voters tend to lean in support of the Democratic party, especially with the consideration of abortion rights, women’s rights, and LGBTQIA+ rights dangling in the air. According to CIRCLE’s exit poll, “youth ages 18-29 are the only age group in which a strong majority supported Democrats” (2022).
In the battleground states, youth votes proved to be significant in the results. For example, the impressive support for the Democratic party over the Republican party in the youth voting group could have been the deciding factor for the Pennsylvania races. According to CIRCLE:
In the Pennsylvania Senate race, where Democrat John Fetterman won by a slim 3% margin, youth ages 18-29 preferred Fetterman 70% to 28%, compared to 55% to 42% among voters ages 30-44, with voters over 45 preferring Republican candidate Dr. Oz.
The results of the 2022 midterm elections make evident the importance of being an active voter. We can make the most change starting at the local and state levels.
Sources:
https://circle.tufts.edu/2022-election-center
https://www.polyas.com/election-glossary#P
https://www.bu.edu/articles/2022/why-are-midterm-elections-important/