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Monday, May 23, 2022
Tuesday is the busiest election day of the year so far, as five states — Idaho, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania — hold their 2022 primaries. And for the GOP, it will be another test of whether to move on from former President Donald Trump. Coming off Nebraska last week — his first loss of the year — Trump has endorsed candidates in seven major primaries on Tuesday, which should give us a clearer answer as to his power in the party. And even in races where Trump has no skin in the game, Republicans are considering nominating someone in his incendiary, illiberal mold — which could make it harder for the GOP to pick up seats in November.
In 1935, Gallup first asked Americans what they thought was the most important problem facing the United States. In the midst of the Great Depression, about 3 in 5 Americans mentioned concerns related to the economy.
There are certain divides in the American electorate that we return to over and over again to explain why people think and vote the way they do. Age, gender, race, education — you know the drill. But other, harder-to-see divisions can be just as important, if not more so. Those hidden divisions aren’t about vital statistics or affiliations. They’re about how people see the world.
Most of the primary action so far this year has been on the Republican side, but Tuesday’s elections in Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania will also decide the future of the Democratic Party in those states. The party’s progressive wing, which has been getting more judicious about picking its battles, has a few golden opportunities to gain new members of Congress. There are also several races where Democrats could add to the diversity of their caucus by nominating a woman, a person of color or both. We’ll even get our first big test this year of how much influence the cryptocurrency industry and pro-Israel groups have in the Democratic Party.
