Skyrocketing Inflation Spells Trouble for Democrats

Skyrocketing Inflation Spells Trouble for Democrats

Democrats’ mismanagement of the economic recovery led to out-of-control inflation that impacts working and middle-class families the most. Voters are angry and Democrats are worried it could cost them their slim majorities.

March 14, 2022
Skyrocketing Inflation Spells Trouble for Democrats

Inflation could be Democrats’ most significant political liability in November’s midterm elections. The annual rate of inflation reached a 40-year high in February, driven by skyrocketing prices for energy — including gasoline and electricity — groceries and more. Minority voters who traditionally lean Democrat report being even more financially strained by inflation, giving Republicans a stronger opportunity to capture one or both houses of Congress.

Wall Street Journal: Nonwhite voters are more likely than white voters to say the highest inflation in four decades is triggering major financial strain in their lives and that appears to be giving Republicans an opening with a growing segment of the electorate that traditionally favors Democrats, the latest Wall Street Journal poll shows.

People with the lowest incomes also were most likely to report major financial challenges from inflation. Almost half with incomes of less than $60,000 reported major financial strain, while just 13% of those making $150,000 or more did so.

Some poll participants said they blame President Biden for inflation because he has taken actions to limit oil-and-gas drilling and pipelines in the U.S.

A Wall Street Journal survey also revealed that two-thirds of voters believe the economy is on the wrong track, including 71 percent of independents. Voters also believed, 47 percent to 30 percent, that Republicans would be better than Democrats at reining in inflation.

Wall Street Journal: Rising prices are putting pressure on Mr. Biden’s overall standing with voters, with 59% disapproving of the way he is handling the economy. A slightly larger share—63%—disapprove of his handling of inflation.

Poll participant David Romero, a 47-year-old probation supervisor who considers himself an independent voter and lives in Montrose, Colo., said he was more open to Republicans this year, in part because of inflation.

“Heating bills are astronomical here,” said Mr. Romero, a Latino who estimates it has cost at least an extra $80 a month to heat his single-family home this winter.

Bottom Line: Democrats’ mismanagement of the economic recovery led to out-of-control inflation that impacts working and middle-class families the most. Voters are angry and Democrats are worried it could cost them their slim majorities.