With the 2022 midterm elections around the corner, the war between Republicans and Democrats continues to wage on. But an interesting byproduct of the election has already emerged. Voters of color are turning to Grand Ol Party (GOP) or Republican candidates like never before.
Harry Enten, in his 2022 article for CNN Politics, “Voters Of Color Are Backing The GOP At Historical Levels”, writes, “Political science tells us that congressional polarization, for instance, is at its highest level since the 19th century.But while Democrats and Republicans may be further apart on policy than any of us can remember, that breakdown is not occurring along racial and gender lines as much as you might think.”
Numbers do not lie and the incoming political data is predicting some record-breaking data. During the 2020 elections, the racial gap between people of color and white voters were 63 points, one point lower than the 2018 elections.
Enten continues by writing, “The big reason for this shrinking gap is that voters of color are supporting Republicans at very high levels. The previous low watermark for the Democratic edge among voters of color in House elections this century was 40 points in 2004…part of why that is occurring is the changing demographic makeup of voters of color. They’re a lot more Hispanic than they used to be. At the same time, they’re a lot less Black. Hispanic voters don’t support Democrats as much as Black voters.”
Division is nothing new in the game of politics but in recent years, with recent actions such as the overturn of Roe v. Wade, division will become a driving force and determining factor in this year’s midterm election just as it was in 2016. Why are voters of color leaning more towards the Republican vote? What could it be about the Democratic vote that seems to be polarizing? Not too many are satisfied with the Democrats efforts currently. Some have felt they aren’t doing their due diligence to hold their Republican counterparts accountable.
Nevertheless, this is going to change the outcome of the midterm election as whomever is elected will set the tone for the 2024 Presidential elections. A tone that has consistently had the dark cloud of the return of Trump glooming over it.
