The 2022 midterm elections didn’t exactly go as expected for Republicans, but there was some good news in the data collected in exit polls.
While Democrats won 76% of the black men’s vote in 2018, that margin was cut to 65% in 2022, an 11% boost for the GOP. Republicans also picked up an additional 7% from black women, according to exit poll data collected by CNN.
Democrats enjoyed a 29% edge among Latino men in 2018, but that was slashed to just 8% this time around. Latino women support also rose 14%.
Republicans also cut their margin of support from voters aged 18-29. In 2018, Democrats were +35% from that voting bloc, but that was cut to 28% in 2022. Support from 30-44 years old also went from +19 to +4.
The GOP made other inroads. Democrats enjoyed a +19 margin from women in 2018, but that fell to just +8 this year.
“When Democrats took control of the House after the 2018 election, a little more than half of voters were women and the party had a huge advantage among them. Even though women represented a similar majority of voters in 2022, Democrats’ lead appears to be cut noticeably,” CNN reported.
Republicans grew their support among men. In 2018, Republicans were +4 over Democrats. This time around, that number soared to +14.
There was another startling finding in the exit poll data. Democrats enjoyed a +33 margin among urban voters in the last midterms, but that fell to just 17% this midterm.
“Most American voters lived in the suburbs in both 2018 and 2022. But while suburban voters were evenly split when Democrats took control of the House four years ago, they moved toward Republicans in 2022,” CNN reported.
“An already-strong Republican lead among rural voters got even bigger and Republicans even ate into Democrats’ lead in urban areas,” according to the data. Rural support went from +14 to +29.
The GOP also picked up votes from moderates, cutting Democrats’ 2018 margin of +26 to +15.
“Both Democrats and Republicans improved their performance among the party faithful. But Republicans built a lead among voters who don’t have a favorable view of either party. Democrats lost their edge among voters who have a favorable view of both parties,” according to the data.
But according to Tufts University, young voters had a real effect on some close races.
“In the Pennsylvania Senate race, where Democrat John Fetterman won by a slim 1% 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. [Mehmet] Oz,” according to the college’s Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE).
“In the Georgia Senate race that may go to a runoff election, whereas of midnight on election night less than 1% separated the candidates, youth backed Democratic incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock 63% to 36%,” CIRCLE reported.
“Voters ages 30-44 backed Warnock 56% to 41%, while voters over 45 gave a majority of their votes to GOP challenger Herschel Walker. Notably, the youth share of the vote in Georgia was 13%, slightly higher than the national rate,” the center reported.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.
