With Election Day set for Tuesday, Nov. 3, voters heading into the 2026 midterms say the economy matters most, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Immigration and abortion also rank as important issues, but Republican and Democratic voters weigh them differently. Meanwhile, gas prices remain high, adding to cost-of-living concerns.
Related coverage: Read our report on the Washington ballot eligibility dispute and our coverage of campaign activity in the Michigan midterm battleground.
The Economy Tops Voters’ Concerns
In a Pew survey conducted Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, 84% of registered voters said the economy is very important to their vote. That included 82% of voters who support Republican candidates and 88% of those who support Democratic candidates.
Pew’s page did not report a separate figure for cost of living. We also could not confirm the survey’s sample size or margin of error from the page we reviewed.
Gas Prices Stay Above $4
The national average for regular gasoline was $4.2258 a gallon on Oct. 29, AAA reported, down about 5 cents from the previous week. AAA said crude oil prices above $100 a barrel are limiting further declines at the pump. It attributed an earlier weekly drop to the seasonal switch to winter-blend gasoline.
AAA’s page did not provide a year-ago comparison, so this article does not compare current prices with last year’s. Pump prices are one visible measure of cost pressure, but AAA’s data describes prices only. It does not show how gas costs affect voters’ choices in any particular race or state.
Immigration and Abortion Divide Parties
Pew found a wide partisan gap on immigration. Overall, 59% of registered voters called it very important, including 72% of Republican candidate supporters and 53% of Democratic candidate supporters.
Both parties’ supporters, in other words, put the economy first, while immigration is the issue where Republican candidate supporters stand out most. Pew’s figures measure how important voters say an issue is, not which candidate they prefer.
Abortion was seen as very important by 46% of voters overall: 49% of Democratic supporters and 43% of Republican supporters. The gap on that issue is much smaller than on immigration.
Four State Abortion Measures on the Ballot
Abortion is also on the ballot directly. KFF lists four measures on the Nov. 3 ballot:
- Virginia: A constitutional amendment that would guarantee abortion rights until the third trimester, with state regulation allowed afterward. KFF said lawsuits over its placement and wording are unresolved.
- Nevada: A citizen initiative that voters must approve a second time after passing it in 2024. It would protect abortion until fetal viability.
- Idaho: Proposition One, a citizen-initiated statute that would create a right to abortion before viability. The Legislature could later amend or repeal it, and the ballot language was rewritten in September after court orders.
- Missouri: Amendment 3, placed by legislators, would repeal the abortion-rights amendment voters approved in 2024 and ban most abortions, with exceptions.
What Remains Unclear
This article does not rank individual battleground races or predict outcomes. We did not verify race-level polling or ratings for this report. Poll results reflect the period when each survey was taken and can change before voters cast ballots. Readers should check official state election sites for polling hours, early voting and ballot language.
This article is for news and information only.
Sources: Pew Research Center; AAA; KFF.
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