What Do Voters Care About? Most Searched Election Topics in Every State

Wages, health care and Social Security are among the most searched political topics ahead of the midterms in November, according to data from Google Trends, suggesting these issues are weighing most on voters' minds.

The data revealed the most pressing topics for potential voters over the last week, as the midterms approach on November 8.

The midterms will decide nearly 500 seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Governorships in different states will also be up for contest.

Money Talks, but So Does Health

Wages is the topic with the highest search across the majority of U.S. states in the past week, the data shows. The exceptions are Alaska, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada, where health care is most searched.

Massachusetts, South Dakota and South Carolina are also exceptions, as Social Security is most searched in those states. In California and Idaho, "Ukraine war" is the most searched topic.

Perhaps surprisingly, abortion does not seem to be a key issue weighing on voters' minds. The only state where abortion is the second most searched topic is in Texas. Everywhere else, it largely trails behind Social Security, health and wages.

The data also shows how interest has shifted since before the November 2020 general election.

Unemployment was one of the main topics of concern in the pandemic, but has been falling pretty much since then, through Joe Biden's presidency.

In almost every state, abortion spiked as the most searched topic at the time of Roe v. Wade being overturned, except for seven states where it never got higher than the search for wages (Washington, Minnesota, Connecticut, Virginia, California, Mississippi and Texas), and three states where it did not get higher than the search for Ukraine war (Montana, Michigan and Alabama). The data does not show which side of the abortion debate those searching for the topic may be on.

Newsweek has contacted political analysts for comment.

The Democrats are unlikely to retain control over both chambers of Congress after the midterms, bookmakers predict, in what will severely restrict Biden's agenda.

The Senate is currently split evenly between the two parties, with Vice President Kamala Harris providing the tiebreak vote to allow the Democrats to control it. In the House, the Democrats currently have a thin majority of 220 representatives compared to the GOP's 212.

Biden's approval rating has been sinking at the worst possible time for him ahead of the midterms.

Two major polls conducted over the last two weeks show that Biden's approval rating has fallen, while analysis from poll tracker FiveThirtyEight shows a decline in the president's approval rating over the past month.

Biden had previously seen his ratings improve after the price of fuel lowered in the U.S., and he passed key legislation, including relieving thousands of students of their college debt.