Voters cite inflation, cost of living as key factors in midterm elections

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump faced voter dissatisfaction over inflation in the midterm elections, as rising prices contributed to significant Republican losses in House, Senate, and gubernatorial races.

Most voters said that Trump’s own policies had hurt growth and driven costs higher, according to The AP Voter Poll, a survey of roughly 100,000 midterm voters. The president’s message that the fault lay with his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, did not persuade many voters. Americans saw prices start to climb following a series of tariffs imposed by Trump last year, and energy costs rose after he launched a war with Iran in February.

About two-thirds of voters said Trump's own policies had fueled inflation. By contrast, only about half of 2022 midterm voters said this about Biden's policies, according to AP VoteCast.

Voters in states from California to Mississippi were broadly in agreement that Trump's taxes on foreign imports have done more harm than good.

The election results were consistent with what voters had been telling pollsters for months, though Trump continued to argue during the campaign that prices were falling.

“I’ve done a great job,” Trump said at one of his final midterm rallies in Iowa. “Prices are coming way down.”

Democratic victories in Tuesday’s midterms indicated that many voters were dissatisfied with the economy and with Trump’s handling of it.

Consumer prices are up 3.7% over the past 12 months, compared to an inflation rate of 3% when Trump began his second term. The president told reporters on Wednesday that the Iran war “drove the gasoline up a little bit short-term,” but he felt the choice to fight Iran was worth it because of its push for nuclear weapons. “If I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again," he said.

There is no guarantee that a House and Senate with a Democratic majority can reduce inflation. Trump and Congress would likely need to work on a bipartisan basis, or keep the economy stable enough to allow the Federal Reserve to continue addressing inflation through its setting of interest rates.

Many voters preferred Democratic candidates to continued unified Republican control of the federal government.

About 9 in 10 voters said the cost of living was a “crucial” or “major” factor in their vote for Congress. And about 6 in 10 of this group backed Democratic candidates in their local House races.

The underlying economy is stronger than many Americans think, with the S&P 500 stock index up more than 10% so far this year and the unemployment rate at 4.2%.

A major driver of growth has been the buildout of artificial intelligence, which the Trump administration has encouraged while opposing more aggressive federal oversight.

Voters don’t share Trump’s optimism about AI, which he has renamed “super intelligence” in federal documents.

About 6 in 10 voters said AI will do more to hurt society than help it.

The technology could displace workers as jobs get automated, or it could prove to be a financial bubble that could affect retirement savings if it collapses. Despite those concerns, only about one-quarter of voters said AI was a “crucial” factor.

Tech billionaires such as Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Elon Musk have become frequent guests of Trump, attending state dinners or traveling abroad with the president.

Nationwide, about 7 in 10 voters said the economy favors wealthy people, while only about 3 in 10 said it's fair to everyday Americans. A majority of voters with a 2025 household income of $300,000 or more in California also said the economy was tilted toward the rich.

Still, a slight majority of voters across the country had a “somewhat” or “very” favorable impression of capitalism, compared to about one-third who “strongly” or “somewhat" favor socialism.

The election also showed support for a greater government role in reducing healthcare costs. About 6 in 10 said they wanted the government to play a “bigger role” in addressing medical expenses. Most voters said Trump's policies have made healthcare costs worse.

How voters felt about the overall economy generally depended on the size of their paychecks. While Trump campaigned on statistics showing record-low poverty, many lower-income voters said their own finances had worsened.

For those earning less than $50,000 a year, about 6 in 10 said they were worse off now than they were two years ago, before Trump became president.

People with higher incomes felt better about the economy, but they were also more concerned about the state of American democracy, and voters focused on democracy overwhelmingly backed Democrats. Without congressional approval, Trump laid off thousands of federal workers, altered federal spending and imposed hundreds of billions of dollars in new tariffs that the Supreme Court earlier this year ruled were illegal.

About 4 in 10 households with 2025 household incomes above $200,000 said that democracy was their top issue, putting the issue about even with the economy. Voters in most lower-income categories, on the other hand, clearly prioritized the economy.

Overall, a slim majority of voters said government corruption was a crucial factor for their vote, while about half said this about high prices. Higher-income voters were much less likely than lower-income voters to see high prices as a key factor.

About 6 in 10 voters said Trump's priorities were misplaced.

When voters were asked if Trump fought for people like them, most said he didn’t.