Midterm Elections

This Election Was Largely About Trump, Exit Polls Show

He wasn't on the ballot, but President Donald Trump had a big impact on how Americans cast their votes in the Midterms.

This Election Was Largely About Trump, Exit Polls Show
Getty Images
SMS

Although his name didn’t appear on the ballot this election, it’s clear that the 2018 Midterms were overwhelmingly about President Donald Trump. 

Two-thirds of voters said Trump was the reason for their vote in the Congressional election, according to separate surveys from television network exit polls and the Associated Press and Fox News. 

Nearly half --about 47% -- of voters surveyed in the exit polls said they strongly disapprove of Trump. About a quarter of voters said their vote was in support of Trump while almost 40 percent said they were voting in opposition to him. 

Six in ten said the country is on the wrong track according to the AP and Fox News survey called Votecast.

Early exit polling numbers are volatile. These numbers are expected to change but they give a first look into voter mindsets on Election day. 

When it comes to the issues, voters said health care and immigration were their biggest priorities. 

According to preliminary network exit polls, 41 percent said health care was the top issue for them. Twenty-three percent said it was immigration. The same was true in the Votecast poll. Twenty-seven percent of voters in that survey said health care was their biggest issue. Twenty-three percent said it was immigration. 

But voters were divided on those issues down party lines. Democratic voters were more likely to say health care was more important while Republican voters were more likely to say it was immigration. 

Nationwide, 48 percent of voters said they think Trump’s immigration policies are too tough, according to the television network polls conducted by Edison polling. But a majority of Republican voters said Trump’s policies were either just right or not tough enough.