The Midterms: Healthcare, immigration high on voters' minds

Healthcare and immigration were high on voters' minds as they cast ballots in the Midterm elections, according to a wide-ranging survey of the American electorate conducted by AP.

AP VoteCast also shows a majority of voters considered US President Donald Trump a factor in their votes.

Control of the Senate and the House of Representatives is at stake in the first nationwide election of Trump's presidency. Democrats are hoping to take over one or both chambers to put a check on the President. At the same time, Trump is encouraging voters to view the election as a referendum on his leadership.

The VoteCast survey debuted today, replacing the in-person exit poll as a source of detailed information about the American electorate. In all, the survey included interviews with more than 113,000 voters nationwide.

Some early takeaways from VoteCast:

TOP ISSUES: HEALTHCARE AND IMMIGRATION

Healthcare was at the forefront of voters' minds: 26 per cent named it as the most important issue facing the country in this year's Midterm elections, followed by immigration (23 per cent). Smaller shares considered the economy (19 per cent), gun policy (8 per cent) and the environment (7 per cent) to be the top issue.

IS IT ALL ABOUT TRUMP?

Nearly two-thirds of voters said Trump was a reason for their vote, while about a third said he was not.

THE ECONOMY

Voters have a positive view of the state of the national economy — 65 per cent said the condition of the economy is excellent or good, compared with 34 per cent who said it's not good or poor.

WRONG DIRECTION

A majority of voters overall said the country is headed in the wrong direction. About 6 in 10 voters said it is headed in the wrong direction, while around 4 in 10 said it's on the right track.

- AP