Poll suggests economy the biggest issue, state of democracy second
A large voter poll cited by BBC News suggested that Hispanic voters backed Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon by 55% to 44% over Republican Angie Moody. BBC News said Hispanic voters looked to be one of the key groups in the elections in Florida, and compared the poll’s estimate with an estimated 55% of Hispanic voters who backed Donald Trump in 2024.
The poll also asked what issues voters were most concerned about, and suggested that across the country the economy was the biggest issue, followed by the state of democracy. When the poll asked whether Donald Trump’s policies affected economic conditions, it suggested that more than two-thirds of respondents believed the policies had made things worse.
Those findings came alongside results in three Florida districts redrawn to favor Republicans. Democrats held Florida 14 and Florida 25 and won Florida 22, BBC News reported. The Republican-favored redraws did not produce Republican victories in those districts. BBC News described the holds in Florida 14 and Florida 25 as “a blow to the Republicans’ attempt to redraw the boundaries in their favour,” and said Florida 22, which had also been redrawn to favor Republicans, delivered a Democratic victory.
The redistricting in Florida 14 and Florida 25 moved both districts from having a majority of 2024 Kamala Harris voters to having a majority of people who voted for Donald Trump, BBC News reported.
Congressional control was also developing. Democrats took control of the Senate and were projected to take the House of Representatives, according to BBC News and its partner CBS News. CBS News made the House projection just after 03:00 GMT on Wednesday, or 22:00 EST on Tuesday. BBC News wrote: “The Democrats are making the gains they need to take control but have their sights set on a much bigger victory.”
BBC News said the Senate results were beyond what Democrats had expected. The party’s Senate gains came in North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas, Texas, Iowa and Ohio. BBC News had identified North Carolina as a likely pickup, and described the South Carolina result as “a huge shock.”
Polls before the election had seen South Carolina as leaning Republican. BBC News said the seat had been “a deep red seat for many years,” last returning a Democratic senator in 1998. Kansas had not returned a Democratic senator since 1932, and Democrats also won in Texas, Iowa and Ohio.
Not all Senate contests were settled. Two races, in Alaska and Maine, remained toss-ups, while CBS News described Mississippi as “on a knife edge.” In the latest count described by BBC News, Democrats held the Senate and were projected to control the House, while Alaska, Maine and Mississippi remained unsettled or closely balanced.
The BBC report was produced by Wesley Stephenson, Christine Jeavans, Daniel Wainwright, Becky Dale, Jess Carr, John Walton and Rob England.