Exclusive | Affordability trumps all other issues in midterm battleground states, grassroots survey reveals

WASHINGTON — Affordability is the runaway top concern for battleground Senate race voters heading into the midterms, and no other issue is even close, a massive grassroots survey found.Focus on affordability dwarfed all other issues that voters raised combined, including immigration, energy, healthcare, crime, education, and national security, according to Americans for Prosperity’s “Americans Unscripted” report shared exclusively with The Post.

Over 42,844 voters were sampled on the ground in the seven top Senate races by Americans for Prosperity, a conservative advocacy group, via door knocks and other means.“Republicans should be concerned about the cost of living,” Katelyn Bledsoe, vice president of external affairs for Americans for Prosperity, told The Post.

“We’re seeing this over and over again.”“Groceries are too expensive, gas too expensive.Health care is too expensive.

But don’t get me wrong, Republicans did make some strides this Congress,” she said.“But more needs to be done right now.”The GOP has widely been seen as the underdog in the midterm battle for control of the House, while the Senate is more of a jump ball contest between the two sides.

Democrats have been pummeling Republicans very hard on affordability since President Trump’s return to the White House.Over time, the issue has grown even more salient for voters.

In June, 51.7% of voters surveyed by the conservative group named the cost of living, while in July, 56.2% similarly named the economy and inflation.The July findings showed that the economy and inflation dwarfed immigration (10.2%), energy and gas costs (9.3%), healthcare (8.9%), government accountability (8.6%), crime (4.3%), education (2.3%), and national security (0.2%) as voters’ top concerns.Voters in Alaska, Iowa, Montana, Ohio, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Michigan were surveyed by Americans for Prosperity, which has a constant presence on the ground in those competitive states.Of th...