As election day is underway and Americans are picking their next president, the one thing that’s already clear is that the election will be decided in just a few battleground states, namely Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. These are thought to be the only states that are so closely fought that either candidate has a realistic chance of winning, which is why practically the entire presidential campaign took place in these seven states.
So with both candidates having done their best to sway voters from battleground states, it’s important to take a look at the issues these voters actually care about. According to the latest New York Times/Siena College poll, there are three issues that stand above anything else for likely voters from these regions: the economy, abortion and immigration.
Trying to predict who will win based on these key issues is as hard as the polls suggest. While Kamala Harris clearly has the edge on abortion, Trump is the obvious choice for voters who care most deeply about immigration. In terms of the economy, it’s not as clear who voters will ultimately trust more. While polls suggest that a slim majority of voters think that Trump would do a better job of handling the economy, economists have warned that his proposed blanket tariffs would hurt American businesses and consumers and likely worsen inflation. Harris on the other hand has the problem of being closely associated with the Biden economy, which, while doing well on paper, has left many people feeling worse off than four years ago.
As our chart shows, this election is also going to be about personalities, as character/competence of either candidate as well as dislike of the opposing candidate is also high on the list of decisive issues named by swing state voters.
