As the November midterm elections are about a month away, Google searches show that immigration and border issues have overtaken abortion issues.
Internet media Axios analyzed Google Trends data from May 23rd to August 8th and September 8th to 20th. As a result of the main search volume on September 12th, border and immigration issues ranked 10th, inflation 15th, Abortion ranked 18th each, it was reported on the 22nd.
The abortion issue came in second after jobs as searches surged on the Internet right after the Supreme Court overturned the Ro v. However, interest continues to decline, except in mid-August, when abortion bans were automatically implemented in some states, including Texas.
On the other hand, the interest in border and immigration issues has been steadily increasing in recent years.
It is analyzed that the controversy sparked after Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent illegal migrants from the South to the North, where Democrats held elected offices in protest of the Biden administration’s immigration policy.
It is estimated that a total of 13,000 illegal immigrants have been sent to Washington, DC, New York, and Chicago so far, some have been transferred to the residence of Vice President Kamala Harris, and the controversy is spreading as the Democratic Party criticizes it as a human rights violation.
Governor DeSantis, one of the Republican presidential nominees, has shown his determination to continue deporting illegal immigrants, and the impact on the November midterm elections remains to be seen.
After the Supreme Court ruling, the rallying of women and progressive voters on the issue of abortion as a link has been observed more predominantly, as it may bring about a change in this trend.
In the four re-elections held since the end of June, for example, the Democratic candidates were counted as receiving nearly 5 percentage points more votes than Joe Biden received in the region in the 2020 presidential election.
As a result, there are speculations that the Democrats will lose the House of Representatives by a smaller margin than expected, along with the possibility that the Democrats will win the Senate in this midterm election. This means that the situation has improved compared to the initial forecast as the abortion issue arose.
However, as immigration and border issues are controversial and attracting the attention of voters, interest is being drawn on how they will affect votes.
Meanwhile, a court in Indiana has issued a preliminary injunction against the recently implemented abortion ban, the Associated Press reported on the same day. Accordingly, the current law that allows legal abortions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy will be maintained for the time being.
Indiana was the first state to enact and enforce a de facto outright ban on abortion after a Supreme Court ruling.