Election season will finally come to an end this week – before the next one kicks off almost immediately thereafter. Throughout this extended period of nonstop campaign ads, dialed-up rhetoric, and so many emails and text messages, American adults are faced with a number of worrying, stressful issues and outcomes – regardless of political leanings.
CivicScience is always tracking Americans’ overall well-being and stress levels, and the data detects a fairly stressed-out electorate ahead of the midterms. Stress is nearly as high as it’s been for Americans all year (57%) – exceeded only by the week of March 6 (59%), which was soon after Russia invaded Ukraine. After a gradual uptick throughout the month of October, election week has brought recent highs in both stress and worry for U.S. adults. Worry, shown in the chart below, has increased steadily since the beginning of October, now at 54% this week (as of Tuesday morning).
Further data show both Democrats and Republicans report similar levels of stress this week, with Democrats leading by two points.
After record-high turnout for the 2020 election – and the highest midterm turnout in a century back in 2018 – it’s fairly safe to assume a similar peak for the 2022 cycle. The percentage of adults who ‘always’ vote in federal, state, and local elections is currently the highest it’s been in the past year.
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