What are the key issues for voters in swing states that could decide election?
Allison Joyce/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — All eyes will be on the key swing states as votes are counted in the match-up between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Both candidates have crisscrossed the seven key swing states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — and worked to appeal to undecided voters and connect with them over the issues that resonate most with them.
While voters in these battleground states share the same concerns as the rest of Americans, there are some issues that stand out as top concerns for their residents — with the economy reigning supreme as a key voter issue with just days left until Election Day.
It’s the economy
“The No. 1 issue is the same as it always is, which is, it’s the economy. And of course, the economy has multiple dimensions to it. We have the growth rate, we have unemployment, we have consumer confidence, and, of course, inflation,” said Todd Belt, director of George Washington University’s Political Management program.
When it comes to the economy, 44% percent of Americans say they’re not as well off now as they were when President Joe Biden took office, tying the most negative number on this question in data since 1986, according to a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll.
Further, while inflation has eased and employment is strong, those gains haven’t hit home for most people: 59% say the economy is getting worse, more than twice as many as say it’s getting better (23%). And among registered voters who say the economy’s worsening, Trump leads Harris by a sweeping 53 points, 74-21%.
A 538 analysis of polls found that virtually all of the swing states have ranked the economy as a top voter issue — some for varying reasons. Still, Belt said the economy is “the No. 1 issue everywhere you go.”
In Nevada, its economy, to a unique degree, depends on the hospitality industry — making the economy a top issue for voters in that state. Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, makes up about 75% of the state’s population — and a significant number of hospitality workers. Likely because of these factors, Nevada voters ranked the economy as the most important issue facing their state, according to poll analysis from 538.
Home prices, fracking, immigration
Housing affordability is another top issue for voters in swing states such as Nevada and North Carolina, where home prices have surged.
The median home price in North Carolina grew from $193,200 in the 2017-19 survey to $280,600 in the 2020-22 survey, the seventh-largest increase in the nation in percentage terms, according to the American Community Survey. And in Nevada, the Home Value Index has grown 34 percent since the start of the Biden presidency, slightly faster than the rate of increase nationwide, according to Zillow.
The cost of groceries, gasoline and housing resonates with voters across several swing states, Belt added.
“The issue of the economy, of course, has to do with the affordability of living. This is what we call, you know, our kitchen table, pocketbook issue,” Belt said. “It has to do deal with groceries, with gasoline. And, of course, what’s been people commenting about most of all is housing costs as well.”
In battleground Pennsylvania, fracking is a big local issue and has ties to both the economy and the environment.
Immigration is another key issue for many swing-state voters — especially those in the Sun Belt. Arizona, a border state, has been a regular campaign stop for Trump and Harris, who have often discussed immigration while there. It’s also top of mind for voters in Nevada — a state where Hispanic and Latinos are the largest minority group with 28% of its population.
“People do have [immigration] on their minds because it has been pushed as a big issue in the media,” Belt said.
Trump has used immigration to hit Harris’ immigration policies, putting the blame squarely on her for the situation at the border as he latches on to his inaccurate reference to her as the “border czar.”
Immigration is often tied to other key issues such as crime, Belt noted — a tactic Trump has employed on the campaign trail.
Despite the fact that U.S. citizens commit crimes at higher rates than undocumented immigrants, Trump painted them as “criminals” who will “cut your throat” at a campaign stop in Wisconsin in September. Also, while in Tempe, Arizona, last week, Trump criticized the Biden-Harris administration for its handling of the border, calling the United States a “garbage can for the world.”
Abortion
Abortion is a key voter issue after the Supreme Court in 2022 overruled Roe vs. Wade, which secured the constitutional right to abortion. The Supreme Court decision, which Trump often brags about his role in, is an issue that Democrats have seized on this cycle.
“The Democrats believe that this is the kryptonite for the Republicans in the last couple of elections,” Belt said.
Abortion remains a rallying issue among Democrats who were able to stave off a “red wave” during the 2022 midterms by centering their messages around it. Harris’ campaign claims reproductive freedom is still one of the top issues among undecided voters.
Several states, including battlegrounds Arizona and Nevada, have ballot measures that would amend their state constitutions with specific language to protect or recognize the right to an abortion for all constituents.
Polls show abortion is a more important issue in Wisconsin than it is nationally, according to poll analysis by 538. The legal status of abortion was hotly contested in the state after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, leading to a 15-month period in which no legal abortions were performed in the state under an 1849 law that criminalized abortion.
Even with other issues on swing states’ radar, Belt noted that both Harris and Trump work to tie messaging back to the economy.
“You’ll see candidates like Donald Trump talk about how immigration is impacting the economy and jobs,” he said. “And so there are these auxiliary issues that they’re trying to push, but they also tie them to the economy, because they know that’s what voters care about the most.”
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead. Via Flickr
(WASHINGTON) — After a sweeping victory over Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5, President-elect Donald Trump is now set to become just the second ever to serve nonconsecutive terms in office.
Trump has wasted no time in moving to assemble his team for a second term in the White House — naming Susie Wiles as his chief of staff and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik as U.N. ambassador, among other positions.
Inauguration Day is Jan. 20.
November 12, 2024, 11:50 AM EST – Will Trump’s administration picks impact House control?
While control of the House has not yet been projected by ABC News, Republicans are inching toward maintaining their slim majority.
But already, Trump has picked several lawmakers to serve in his administration: Rep. Elise Stefanik for United Nations ambassador and Rep. Mike Waltz for national security adviser.
Speaker Mike Johnson, asked about the issue on Tuesday, said he’s spoken to Trump about it several times.
“We have a really talented Republican Congress … Many of them can serve in important positions in the new administration. But President Trump fully understands, appreciates the math here and it’s just a numbers game,” Johnson said. “You know, we believe we’re going to have a larger majority than we had last time.”
The speaker added: “I don’t expect that we will have more members leaving, but I’ll leave that up to him.”
November 12, 2024, 11:39 AM EST – Billionaire John Paulson says he’s not a candidate for Treasury role
Billionaire John Paulson said Tuesday he does not plan to formally join the administration as the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, though he said he intends to remain actively involved with Trump’s economic team.
“Although various media outlets have mentioned me as a candidate for Secretary of the Treasury, my complex financial obligations would prevent me from holding an official position in President Trump’s administration at this time,” Paulson said in a statement.
“However, I intend to remain actively involved with the President’s economic team and helping in the implementation of President Trump’s outstanding policy proposals,” he added.
-ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson
November 12, 2024, 11 AM EST – Johnson teases Trump visit to the Capitol
House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that Trump is expected to visit the U.S. Capitol to celebrate a potential Republicans “trifecta” on Wednesday morning before he sits down in the Oval Office with President Joe Biden later in the day.
“Well, I’ll say I didn’t intend to break this as news this morning,” Johnson quipped as he held a press conference with House Republican leadership.
“He wanted to come and visit with House Republicans, so we’re working out the details of him gathering with us potentially tomorrow morning, before he goes to the White House,” Johnson said. “And that would be a great meeting and a moment for all of us, there’s a lot of excitement, a lot of energy here. We’re really grateful for President Trump leaving it all on the field to get reelected.”
ABC News’ John Parkinson, Isabella Murray and Lauren Peller
November 12, 2024, 11 AM EST – House Republican leadership say they’re ready for Day 1 under Trump
Returning to Washington on Tuesday, Speaker Mike Johnson and other top House Republicans took a victory lap on last week’s election results.
While ABC News has not yet projected House control, Republicans are three seats away from clinching the 218 needed for a majority.
Johnson said they are monitoring outstanding races closely but are confident they will have a “unified” government come January.
“This leadership will hit the ground running to deliver President Trump’s agenda in the 119th Congress, and we will work closely with him and his administration to turn this country around and unleash, as he says, a new golden age in America,” Johnson said at a press conference on the Capitol steps.
November 11, 2024, 11:22 PM EST – Trump’s new ‘border czar’ issues warning to sanctuary states and cities
President-elect Donald Trump’s newly picked “border czar” Tom Homan addressed his forthcoming deportation plan and state leaders who have objected to sweeping immigration policies.
During an appearance on Fox News on Monday, Homan issued a warning to so-called “sanctuary” states and cities to “get the hell out of the way” of the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans.
“I saw today numerous governors from sanctuary states saying they’re going to step in the way. They better get the hell out of the way. Either you help us or get the hell out of the way, because ICE is going to do their job,” he warned, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where he formerly served as director.
“I’ll double the workforce in that sanctuary city. We’re going to do our job despite the politics. We’re doing it. So get used to it, because we’re coming,” Homan said.
When asked if he plans to deport American citizens, Homan said, “President Trump has made it clear we will prioritize public safety threats and national security threats first, and that’s how the focus would be.”
-ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim
November 11, 2024, 8:48 PM EST – Trump expected to tap Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state: Sources
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to announce his intention to nominate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for secretary of state, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Rubio, 53, has served in the Senate since 2011. He is currently the vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Foreign Intelligence, and he also sits on the chamber’s Foreign Relations Committee.
Several long-serving State Department officials tell ABC News they respect Rubio’s extensive foreign policy experience and view him as unlikely to overly politicize the secretary of state role.
The secretary of state is appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and Shannon Kingston
November 11, 2024, 7:00 PM EST – Trump asks Rep. Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser: Sources
Trump has asked Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., to be his national security adviser, multiple sources said.
Waltz was at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, sources said.
Waltz is a former Green Beret and China hawk who emerged as a key surrogate for Trump, criticizing the Biden-Harris foreign policy record during the campaign.
The Florida Republican sits on the Intelligence, Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees.
He has supported aid to Ukraine in the past but has demanded “conditions,” including increased spending from European allies, additional oversight of funds and pairing the aid with border security measures.
Waltz, who has visited Ukraine, was a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s policy towards Ukraine, criticizing the White House and allies for not providing Ukraine with more lethal aid — such as MiG fighter planes — earlier in the conflict.
Before running for elected office, Waltz served in various national security policy roles in the Bush administration, Pentagon and White House.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Benjamin Siegel, John Santucci and Katherine Faulders
November 11, 2024, 6:06 PM EST – Volunteer-run effort on RFK Jr.’s website crowd-sourcing ideas for Trump admin appointments
A volunteer-run effort on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s website has begun crowd-sourcing ideas for appointments in Trump’s administration.
A website titled “Nominees for the People” gives anyone the chance to submit names of people they’d like to see join the administration.
“President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. want your help nominating people of integrity and courage for over 4,000 appointments across the future Trump administration,” the website reads.
Stefanie Spear, a Kennedy spokeswoman, told ABC News that the crowd-sourcing effort is “a grassroots initiative run by volunteers,” and is not actually spearheaded by Kennedy, although the page uses the “mahanow.org” URL that Kennedy’s official campaign website adopted after he exited the race.
“We’ve always offered space on our website to our grassroots movement,” Spear said.
This post has been updated to reflect that the crowd-sourcing effort is a volunteer-run effort.
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
November 11, 2024, 5:55 PM EST – Trump’s ‘border czar’ says mass deportation strategy will be a main priority
Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan, Trump’s newly announced “border czar,” said his main priority will be overseeing and formulating Trump’s long-vowed mass deportation strategy while consolidating decisions related to border security.
“Everybody talks about this mass deportation operation. President Trump talks about. I’ll oversee that and come up with a strategy for that,” Homan said during a lengthy interview with his hometown television station WWNY on Monday.
Homan said Trump’s mass deportations is “going to be a targeted enforcement operation, concentrating on criminals and national security threats first.”
He acknowledged that the deportations would be costly but argued the policy would “save the taxpayers a lot of money.”
Homan said he does not plan to “separate women and children” but acknowledged that deporting alleged criminals would result in breaking up families.
“When we arrest parents here, guess what? We separate them. The illegal aliens should be no different,” Homan said.
Homan also said worksite enforcement — an aspect of immigration policy focused on unauthorized workers and employers who knowingly hire them — is “going to get fired back up.”
“Under President Trump, we’re going to work it and we’re going to work it hard,” he said.
-ABC News’ Peter Charalambous
November 11, 2024, 5:46 PM EST – Melania Trump skipping meeting with Jill Biden: Sources
Melania Trump is not expected to travel to Washington with President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, two sources told ABC News.
First lady Jill Biden had extended an invite to Melania Trump for a meeting, according to the sources. In 2016, Michelle Obama had hosted Melania Trump at the White House.
The Trump campaign declined to comment. The first lady’s office confirmed to ABC News that a joint invitation was extended to the Trumps to meet at the White House though declined to comment beyond that.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, John Santucci and Molly Nagle
November 11, 2024, 4:26 PM EST – RFK Jr. advising Trump transition on health decisions: Sources
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has continued to broadly advise Trump and the transition team on health-related appointments and has been in discussions to possibly fill a major role in the next administration, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
While sources caution that a role has not been finalized, RFK Jr. has been discussed as a potential candidate for the next secretary of Health and Human Services. But other roles are also on the table, including a broad “czar”-like position that would advise on policy and personnel decisions in other health arenas, the sources said.
RFK Jr. has been in active discussions with the transition team since Trump’s election victory last week. He’s been spotted at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club multiple times and has been engaging in presentations which include candidates for specific Cabinet and health-related jobs, sources said.
He has spent hours with the co-heads of Trump’s transition team — billionaire Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon — in addition to others at Mar-a-Lago such as Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr.; investor and donor Omeed Malik; Tucker Carlson; and Del Bigtree, RFK Jr.’s former campaign spokesperson who produced a documentary called “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe.”
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Olivia Rubin and Will McDuffie
November 11, 2024, 3:30 PM EST – Lee Zeldin named to be EPA administrator
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
“Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies,” Trump said in a statement. “He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet. He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance, that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.
Zeldin, who also ran for New York governor against Andrew Cuomo in 2022, confirmed he had been offered the job via a post on X.
“It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator,” he wrote. “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.”
-ABC News’ John Santucci, Rachel Scott and Katherine Faulders
November 11, 2024, 3:06 PM EST -RFK Jr. suggests he’ll gut NIH, replace 600 employees
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. indicated over the weekend that he would fire 600 employees at the National Institutes of Health, replacing them with a new cohort of workers as he seeks to dramatically reshape America’s health agencies.
Speaking at the Genius Network Annual Event in Scottsdale, Arizona, Kennedy described his role vetting people for Donald Trump’s new administration.
“We need to act fast, and we want to have those people in place on Jan. 20, so that on Jan. 21, 600 people are going to walk into offices at NIH and 600 people are going to leave,” Kennedy said, according to a video of his remarks posted on YouTube.
November 11, 2024, 3:06 PM EST- Trump expected to announce Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to announce Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner and one of his senior advisers, will become his deputy chief of staff for policy, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
It’s not clear when Trump plans to formally announce the job, the sources said.
Miller worked in the first Trump administration and played a key role in crafting immigration policies — including those that resulted in thousands of families being separated at the border.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, John Santucci and Katherine Faulders
November 11, 2024, 3:00 PM EST – Trump picks Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador
President-elect Donald Trump selected Rep. Elise Stefanik to be his U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, multiple Trump officials told ABC News.
“I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement to ABC News.
Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman from New York’s 21st District, was elected last week to her sixth term in the House. She will inherit a role Nikki Haley held for two years in the first Trump administration.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Katherine Faulders and John Santucci
(WASHINGTON) — The judge overseeing the Arizona “fake elector” case against several of Donald Trump’s allies has recused himself from the case after accusations of personal bias.
Last week, defense attorneys for State Senator Jacob Hoffman filed a motion to disqualify Judge Bruce Cohen, alleging that an email published by a media outlet revealed “politically charged statements” made by Cohen while overseeing the case.
“While Judge Cohen is entitled to his political opinions and speech, his rhetoric and exhortation precisely mirrors the evidence of hostile partisan political zealotry at the heart of the motions to dismiss that have been languishing before the Court for months,” the attorneys said in the filing last week.
“Judge Cohen’s impartiality can readily be questioned because of his apparent personal prejudice against President Trump and his supporters,” the attorneys added.
In an email sent in August, Cohen urged fellow members of the bench to speak out against attacks made against Vice President Kamala Harris. He also lamented the failure to speak out against Nazism, according to the attorneys.
“When we cannot or do not stand with others, the words of Martin Niemoller are no longer a historic reference to the atrocities of WWII, those words describe the present,” Cohen wrote.
“But it is time for me to state my piece or be complicit in the depravity,” he added.
In response to the filing, Cohen had initially scheduled a conference hearing to discuss the issue but on Tuesday afternoon, he sent a notice of recusal to the defense attorneys.
In the notice, Cohen defended the email that surfaced, saying it was not reflective of bias.
“As noted in the subject e-mail, the same cry for decency and respect would have been made about disparaging comments from either political sphere,” Cohen wrote. “That said, within hours after sending the August e-mail solely to other judicial officers and not in any public forum, an apology was sent out to those same judicial officers.”
“Out of a commitment to justice, even the appearance of bias cannot be allowed to undermine the fundamental fairness that is extended by the court to all who come before it,” Cohen added.
“It is for that reason alone that this court is recusing itself from all further proceedings in this matter.”
All those indicted in the case pleaded not guilty earlier this summer to charges of fraud, forgery, and conspiracy for their alleged efforts to overturn the state’s election results. Trump’s former attorney Jenna Ellis subsequently reached a cooperation agreement with prosecutors in exchange for the state dropping the charges against her.
(WASHINGTON) — Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Thursday said former President Donald Trump and others are “wrong” to question the Postal Service’s ability to deliver ballots ahead of the presidential election.
Asked by a reporter, at a virtual preview of the 2024 election, to respond specifically to Trump’s claim that the Postal Service might deliberately misplace mail-in ballots, DeJoy responded tersely: “My response is like my response to everyone who says that we’re not prepared for the election — it’s that they’re wrong,” he said. “I don’t know that I need to comment any more than that. They’re wrong.”
At the top of his prepared remarks, DeJoy pushed back on those engaging in rhetoric that undermines the public confidence in the Postal Service, which, DeJoy reminded reporters, had been delivering ballots since 1864.
“We recognize that election officials are under an extreme amount of pressure, and will remain so for at least the next two months,” he said. “We also recognize that the American public will become increasingly alarmed if there is ongoing dialogue that continues to question the reliability of the Postal Service for the upcoming elections.”
“Let me be clear,” DeJoy continued. “The Postal Service is ready to deliver the nation’s mail in ballots.”
DeJoy said the Postal Service delivered 99.89% of ballots from voters to election officials in the 2020 election, which he called a “highly sensitive, sensationalized environment.”
In an interview with right-wing outlet Real America’s Voice from Las Vegas last week, former President Donald Trump escalated false and baseless claims about mail-in voting, even suggesting a possible lawsuit.
“I read the post office is saying how bad it is. The post office is critiquing themselves, saying we’re really in bad shape. We can’t deliver the mail. And they’re not even talking about mail in ballots, right? We’re going to dump millions and millions of dollars,” Trump said, repeating false claims that the last election was “rigged” and that the U.S. voting system is “bad.”
