In a word, women.

Women voters age fifty and over will very likely decide the balance of power in Congress and statehouses around the US in the upcoming midterm elections.

Unlike their male brethren, the great majority haven’t decided which way they’ll vote or which candidates to support.

As a voting bloc, they steer towards unity and away from divisive politics. Older women are one of the largest, most reliable groups of voters. According to voter file and Census Bureau data, they make up more than one-quarter of registered voters and cast nearly a third of all ballots. About two-thirds won’t decide which party or which candidate to vote for until weeks or just days before election day.

They’re extremely worried about the impact of rising prices and their ability to save for retirement. A majority say the economy is not working for them - a significant uptick from two years ago.

They want politicians to work together to find solutions to inflation and other key issues. They demand that candidates address quality of life, cost of living, supply chain problems and ways to end the discord permeating politics today.

Not surprisingly, they’re not impressed with what they’ve seen from the current crop of elected officials.

By more than a two-to-one margin, these voters want politicians who are willing to work together to get things done, even if the result is an occasional compromise that goes against their values.

These voters want to see politicians come together and do their job.

Isn’t that what we all want?

References

“Women voters 50+ will decide the balance of power in the 2022 midterms” AARP (2022)

“Is one voter bloc really going to decide the midterms?” FiveThirtyEight (2022)

“Number of voters as a share of the voter population, by age” Kaiser Family Foundation (2022)