LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Tracking trends of the 2022 Midterm Elections through aggregate polling data has revealed two trends that could spell disaster for Democrats in races with razor-thin margins.
The minority vote will likely be key to victory in those races, and that vote, once held firmly in Democrat control, has been shifting red.
18-year-old Donovan Childress voted for the first time ahead of the 2022 midterms.
"It felt good just knowing that I'm making a difference," he said.
Childress said, as a young African American, it was his duty to make his voice heard.
"I know my demographic as a young voter, we're least represented," he said. "We turn out least, and I feel like doing my part, try to break those barriers."
Childress said inflation and climate change were the most pressing issues driving him to the polls, and he's far from alone as a minority voter with a reason to cast a ballot.
Politicians and campaigns have known diverse voters would be critical, and many have focused on the groups as they distance themselves from their historically Democrat base.
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"First, I think it's great that now these groups are a priority," said Tachelle Lawson, diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant and president of FIG Strategy.
Lawson said as politicians focus their attention on messaging and engagement with minority communities, those community's voters have responded in kind.
"Growing up in North Las Vegas, no one in my community voted. No one," she said. "They don't care what we have to say. No one is paying attention to us."
With that attention, she said voters have become more critical of years-long policies that haven't resulted in marked change for voters, and young voters are bringing their own new concerns to the table.
"Now we're starting to ask more questions, and really trying to determine what matters to us as an individual," Lawson said. "This is no longer about me as a black woman, this is about me as a woman, as an American, as a business owner."
Lawson said whoever wins with the support of minority voters would need to address issues within those communities to keep those votes.
Childress said the follow-through on promises would be important for his continued support.
"Not leave the black vote behind," he said. "I want them to keep pushing their agenda to help the people that get them elected."
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