Voter frustration about the economy went beyond gas prices, Voter Poll shows
Three-fours of voters described the economy as not good or poor, polls showed.
A monthslong surge of inflation. A national average gas price well above $4 a gallon. Thirty-year mortgage rates north of 7%.
Economic woes helped fuel a Democratic takeover of the U.S. House and Senate in the midterm elections as voter frustration spanned from gas and grocery prices to healthcare costs and utility bills, according to ABC News Voter Polls, which are based on surveys of voters conducted on and before Election Day.
Three-quarters of House voters nationally described the economy as not good or poor, according to the Voter Poll.
A blue wave on Tuesday catapulted Democratic Senate candidates to victories in Republican strongholds such as South Carolina and Texas. As of Wednesday, Democrats were projected to win 54 seats in the Senate, with competitive races yet to be called in Alaska and Mississippi.
A strong performance in House contests, meanwhile, appeared to set Democrats on a path toward a comfortable majority in the lower chamber. ABC News has projected Democrats will win the House.
The Iran war sparked a rise of inflation earlier this year, squeezing household budgets and dampening consumer sentiment. A survey of consumer sentiment conducted by the University of Michigan every month for more than seven decades showed its second-lowest level ever in October.
Similarly, midterm voters nationwide voiced their discontent about inflation on Tuesday. About 8 in 10 House voters (79%) said inflation had caused them and their family a severe or moderate hardship over the previous year, according to the Voter Poll.
By contrast, 21% of House voters said inflation had caused them and their family no hardship at all over that period.
On Election Day, the national average price of a gallon of gas stood at $4.14 a gallon, which marked a rise of 1.16, or 38%, since the outbreak of the Iran war, AAA data showed.
The U.S. average price of diesel registered at $6.28, an increase of more than $2.50 from a year earlier, according to AAA.
About 6 in 10 House voters said they were very concerned with gasoline or diesel prices, according to the ABC News Voter Poll (59%).
The same share also expressed frustration with grocery and food prices: 59%.
The sense of strain on voters' budgets extended to costs like healthcare and utility bills: 59% said they were very concerned about healthcare costs and 53% said the same about utilities, according to the Voter Poll.
Those who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) saw their average monthly benchmark premium jump from $497 per month in 2025 to $625 in 2026, according to KFF, particularly after enhanced premium tax credits expired at the end of last year.
Trump's signature "One Big Beautiful Bill" included a range of tax reductions for both individuals and businesses, but the measure also slashed some people's Medicaid benefits.
Over half of House voters said that the Trump administration's policies have made their healthcare costs worse and by a 20-percentage point margin they said they trusted the Democratic Party more to handle healthcare, according to the Voter Poll. About 6 in 10 said they wanted the federal government to play a bigger role in helping Americans get healthcare, according to the Voter Poll.
Utility bills also drew attention during midterm campaign season as some candidates, mostly Democrats, criticized artificial intelligence data centers, citing potential strain on local water systems and high residential utility bills as a result of increased demand.
ABC News' Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.