The Pew Research Center recently released a report on midterm voting that found more voters are engaged earlier this election year.
“Compared with recent midterms, more voters say their view of the president – positive or negative – will influence their vote for Congress," the report said. “A 60 percent majority say they consider their midterm vote as essentially a vote either for Donald Trump (26 percent) or against him (34 percent). These are among the highest shares saying their view of the president would be a factor in their vote in any midterm in more than three decades.”
Vicki Barnett is a former mayor of Farmington Hills and Democratic legislator, and Ken Sikkema is a senior policy fellow with Public Sector Consultants and the former Republican majority leader in the state Senate.
They spoke with Stateside about what high midterm turn out means for the November general elections.
In Michigan, many Republican candidates for political office have been touting their allegiance to President Trump. According to Sikkema, core Republican voters are going to come out and double down on Donald Trump this November.
Barnett said Democrats will show up in November too, but that the fight will come down to the independent voters. Sikkema seconded that opinion.
“I think the core voters are going to vote their party,” he said. “Core Republicans are gonna vote for Republican candidates, and core Democratic voters are gonna vote for Democratic candidates. The issue is going to come down to suburban independents.”
Listen above to hear more analysis from Barnett and Sikemma.
This post was written by Stateside production assistant Sophie Sherry.
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