Republicans are gaining in voter demographics long dominated by Democrats, putting the latter at risk of a political blowout during the November midterms and beyond, according to a bombshell new survey from The Wall Street Journal.
While the party in the White House historically loses seats during midterm elections, Democrats are facing multiple headwinds including historic inflation, foreign policy disasters, high gas prices, and now, losses of minority voters, which one analyst likened to a “five-alarm fire” for the party.
Also, far more voters prefer Republicans to Democrats in terms of congressional candidates.
“More voters said that Republicans had a better plan to improve the economy, 45% to 37%, even though Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the party’s leaders in each chamber, have advanced few specific economic-policy proposals they would pursue if they controlled Congress,” the Journal said.
The paper added:
The survey also found Republicans making gains among minority groups. By 9 percentage points, Hispanic voters in the new poll said they would back a Republican candidate for Congress over a Democrat. The two parties had been tied among Hispanic voters in the Journal’s survey in November.
Democratic margins also eroded among Black voters, who favored a Democrat for Congress by 35 percentage points in the new survey, down from 56 points in November. Support for a Republican candidate rose to 27% among Black voters, up from 12% in November.
“This is a 5-alarm fire for the Democratic party,” noted Tom Bevan, the co-founder and president of RealClearPolitics tweeted.
This is a 5-alarm fire for the Democratic party.
— Tom Bevan
The survey also found that in a head-to-head match-up, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump each polled 45 percent, but as one GOP operative noted, that’s not relevant in November.
“A lot of Democrats will want to use Trump as the boogeyman in the midterm elections, but he’s not on the ballot,” Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio said. “And that’s really important, given how important inflation and the economy are to voters.”
Democratic pollster John Anzalone, who was the head pollster in the presidential campaign of President Biden, painted a dimmer picture.
“The mood of the country hasn’t gotten any better since the last poll. In fact, it’s gotten a little worse,” he said.