Survey: Health Care, Immigration High on Voters’ Minds

Health care and immigration were high on voters’ minds as they cast ballots in the midterm elections, according to a wide-ranging survey of the American electorate conducted by The Associated Press.

AP VoteCast also shows a majority of voters considered President Donald Trump a factor in their votes.

A majority of voters overall say the country is headed in the wrong direction. Still, about two-thirds say the economy is good.

With control of the Senate and the House of Representatives at stake, President Trump encouraged voters to view the first nationwide election of his presidency as a referendum on his leadership.

VoteCast debuted Tuesday, replacing the in-person exit poll as a source of detailed information about the American electorate.

In all, the survey included interviews with more than 113,000 voters nationwide.

Some early takeaways from AP VoteCast:

TOP ISSUE: HEALTH CARE

Health care was at the forefront of voters’ minds: 26 percent named it as the most important issue facing the country in this year’s midterm elections. Smaller shares considered immigration (23 percent), the economy (19 percent), gun policy (eight percent) and the environment (seven percent) to be the top issue.

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STATE OF THE ECONOMY

Voters have a positive view of the nation’s current economic outlook — 65 percent said the state’s economy is good, compared with 34 percent who said it’s not good.

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TRUMP FACTOR

For 36 percent of voters, President Donald Trump was not a factor they considered while casting their vote. By comparison, 64 percent said Trump was a reason for their vote.