National and State Analysis of the Role of Health Care and Abortion in the Midterm Available through KFF Online Dashboard

Supplemental KFF Questions Added to AP VoteCast Survey Provide Deeper Insight About the Impact of Abortion and Health Care Issues

Health Care Costs Were Among Economic Concerns for Voters Motivated by Inflation, and Abortion Was a Motivating Factor for Many Democratic Voters and Women

Inflation was widely expected to be the driving issue for voters on Election Day, and poll results bear this out. However, beyond inflation, seven in ten voters said the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe was important to their vote, with one-quarter calling it the single most important factor, half as many as said the same about inflation.

More than half of Democratic voters and women voters under age 50 said the Supreme Court overturning Roe had a “major impact” on which candidates they voted for in this election as well as their decision about whether to turn out to vote.

KFF, in partnership with the Associated Press (AP), examined the role that health care played in the 2022 midterm election by adding supplemental questions to the AP VoteCast survey of midterm voters. These questions and KFF’s analysis examine the role health care costs play in voters’ concerns around inflation as well as the impact that the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe had on their decision to vote and who to vote for.

Despite the clamor about gas prices, the high cost of food was by far the top inflation-related concern that voters said was a factor in their vote. Health and prescription drug prices were also in the mix, just trailing gas prices and about the same as utilities and housing costs, underscoring that voters see health as a pocketbook issue.

Available through an online interactive dashboard, KFF provides data and analysis of the overall AP VoteCast survey and these supplemental questions at both the national and state level. The dashboard includes:

• An interactive map for a closer look at states with health-related ballot measures and those with competitive Senate and governor races to examine the role of abortion in motivating voters in those states.
• A block of charts looking at the motivations of voters and the impact of the Supreme Court decision on Roe in states which had abortion ballot initiatives on the ballot.
• A curated set of charts providing key analysis among subgroups of voters on topics like abortion ballot measures, issues in competitive races, and voters’ views of the most important issues facing the U.S., including where health care ranks compared to other issues.

The AP VoteCast is a national survey and 48 state surveys of 2022 midterm voters conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for the AP and Fox News beginning on Oct. 31 and concluding as polls closed on Nov. 8, 2022, in English and Spanish. The national survey was conducted using the NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, while the individual state surveys were conducted from a random sample of state voter files and from self-identified registered voters selected from non-probability online panels. More details are available about AP VoteCast’s methodology.