10/19/2026
What Midterm Voters Prefer - American Thinker. What will both State and National candidates support if elected
American Thinker: When the voters head to the polls in a little over two weeks, the key battleground states of Alaska, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina, Georgia, Maine, Texas, Kansas, and Nebraska will have a very clear choice about what direction they want to steer the country — for the remainder of President Trump’s term and beyond.
Are they pleased that the Trump administration has not released a single illegal alien from the border into the U.S. interior for 17 straight months, or would they prefer we return to the Biden administration’s open border policy, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recorded an average of roughly 7,500 to 11,000 total border encounters per day?
Are they appreciative that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested more than 10,000 gang members during Trump’s second term, or would they prefer a return to the Biden era, where the Executive Branch views ICE as a Gestapo-like army, that is supposedly rounding up innocent civilians as though it were a sport?
Do the voters like the fact that during Trump’s first year in office, FBI data revealed, the overall national violent crime rate fell by 9.3 percent in 2025 (dropping from 362.9 to 327.6 offenses per 100,000 people), the largest one-year decline since FBI records began in 1936?
Or would they prefer an administration that coddles violent criminals, supports sanctuary jurisdictions, favors no-cash bail, and enables soft-on-crime prosecutors, who seemingly make a determination about whether to prosecute based on whether or not the person who committed the crime belongs to a group that is overrepresented in prison?
Never mind the fact that more lenient sentencing will only incentivize repeat offenders to commit more crimes, particularly in less affluent urban neighborhoods.
But evidently, affirmative action also applies to crime.
When the voters head to the polls, will they remember that President Trump made the 2017 tax cuts permanent, which, contrary to false left-wing talking points, lowered the individual income tax rates for nearly all income brackets, and not just the top income earners?
Will the voters recall that the new Trump Working Families Tax Cuts also provide no tax on tips and no tax on overtime, and permanently locked in and boosted the Child Tax Credit to $2,200 per child?
Or would they have preferred the Biden tax proposal, which would have raised the federal corporate income tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent and imposed a 25-percent “billionaire minimum tax” on total wealth for households with a net worth over $100 million?
If the answer is an emphatic “yes, tax the rich,” it’s worth pointing out that when you raise the corporate tax rate, it means those “evil corporations” have less money to invest in expansion, leading to slower wage growth, a reduction in hiring, and decreased worker productivity and higher consumer prices.
The same adverse effects can be said of imposing a “billionaires’ tax” on high income earners. They will simply choose to invest less of their money in new ventures or startups that would have otherwise created new jobs and potentially better goods and services for the consumers.
In reality, penalizing the wealthy also harms the middle class.
When the voters head to the polls, will they celebrate that under President Trump, we are once again an energy-dominant country, in which U.S. offshore oil production reached a record high of over 714 million barrels in 2025? Or will they give in to fear-mongering, by politicians who peddle Al Gore–like conspiracies, including the preposterous claim he made in his 2006 documentary that sea levels could rise by 20 feet in the near future if we’re not careful?
For the record, NASA’s satellite calculates that global sea levels have risen by about 4 inches since 1993. Oops.
And although it’s true that the price of gas is still way too high, the highest national average gas price during Biden’s presidency was $5.02 per gallon, while the highest national average gas price during Trump’s second term peaked at $4.54 a gallon this past May.Obviously, the ongoing war with Iran, has not helped matters, as the average price of gas has increased by more than 40 percent since the conflict started.
But having an effective energy policy, which is temporarily being hindered by the attempt to dismantle the nuclear capabilities of a belligerent regime — that poses a significant geopolitical threat — is very different from imposing a misguided energy policy that does little to address “climate concerns” while also harming the economy.
When the voters head to the polls, will they appreciate the billions in waste, fraud, and abuse that the Trump administration has uncovered? Or would they prefer a return to the bloated government contracts with special interest groups and corrupt foreign countries?
Will they remember that our military has been rebuilt and is focused on winning missions, toppling dictators, and having a strong defense capability, as opposed to ensuring that every pronoun feels included on the battlefield?
Will the voters recall this administration’s emphasis on improved dietary guidance that focuses on whole foods, phasing out artificial dyes, and establishing a national chronic-disease prevention agenda, or would they prefer for a return to coercing citizens to take an experimental vaccine or risk losing their job and promoting s*x surgery for minors?
When the voters head to the polls, will they remember to look at the actual voting records of the candidates as opposed to their rhetoric?
Every election cycle, Democrat candidates seem to have a habit of running TV ads bragging about being tough on crime and the border; wanting to lower the costs of gas, groceries, and utility bills; and protecting the sanctity of women’s sports — even when their voting records, prior statements, and actual beliefs reveal that they will do anything but, should they get elected.
Finally, when the voters head to the polls, will they appreciate that we once again have a president who, rather than emphasizing our shortcomings or diminishing our role on the world stage, is deeply proud of this country, chooses to exercise strength, and focuses on how we have been and continue to be a force for good—at home and around the world?
