Older Americans Will Be a Force in 2022 Elections

Thirty-six governors’ races. Redistricting. A tied United States Senate and nearly even House of Representatives. Dozens of new state laws revamping how we'll cast our ballots and how they will be counted. A pandemic and economy that repeatedly defy predictions and confound our lives. Americans will have to contend with this complex set of factors as the all-important 2022 midterm election season gets underway.

"I think there's just a whole host of reasons that voters feel unsettled," from COVID to inflation to growing international tensions, says Glen Bolger, a Republican strategist and pollster. Celinda Lake, a veteran Democratic pollster, recalls that "in 2020 people were looking for change. In 2022 I think they'll be looking for results."

Despite changes in how people will be able to vote in some states and the potential for the pandemic to still be a factor, experts predict that the high voter interest of the past few elections will continue. "Turnout is always lower in the midterm than it is in the preceding presidential, but we are in what I think is a high-turnout moment in U.S. elections," says Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.