Find out which are the 6 decisive states for the 2022 US election

Six states will be at the center of the US political universe this week. They are the five that President Joe Biden wants to “turn” from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party in 2020: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, in addition to Nevada, historically Democrat.

All have critical electoral races that will determine control of the Senate, House and state governments. What happens in these states will impact issues like abortion rights, economic policy, education and the climate crisis — not just within their borders, but across the country.

Here’s a summarized version of what you need to know about these midterm election races.

Arizona

Historic

In 2020, Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Arizona since Bill Clinton in 1996. Biden and Clinton were the only Democratic presidential candidates to win in the state in over 70 years.

What can happen

The GOP hopes to win in Arizona after the Democratic Party broke ground in the state in 2020, when Biden won there and Mark Kelly won a Senate seat for Democrats.

However, the GOP (as the Republican Party is known) did not enlist moderate Republicans to help the cause. the candidate
Republican incumbent Kari Lake and Senate candidate Blake Masters were both endorsed by Trump and expressed their skepticism of Biden’s legitimate victory in the state.

A major voting bloc in Arizona that could decide the election is Latinos, who accounted for 19% of the electorate in 2020, according to exit polls. That important share of voters voted for Biden, who won 61% of the Latino vote, compared to 37% for Trump.

Democrats need to perform well in Maricopa County to retain the Senate seat and win state governorship. The county, which includes Phoenix, is home to the majority of Arizona’s registered voters. Made up largely of office workers and home to a strong high-tech economy, the county has always been historically Republican but has been turning to Democrats in recent years.

Georgia

Historic

When Biden beat Georgia in the 2020 presidential election, he became the first Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1992 to win the state. The two were the only ones from the party to win there since a Georgia egress, former President Jimmy Carter, was elected in 1976.

What can happen

The last two election cycles have proved how tight elections in Georgia can be, something that must be repeated now. such as the
control of the Senate fell to Georgia in 2020, the same could happen in 2022.

In the last cycle, Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock won Senate seats and shifted control of the House to the Democrats. Warnock will now compete for a full term against Herschel Walker, a former football star catapulted by Trump, who has maintained Republican support despite several scandals throughout the campaign.

Republican Governor Brian Kemp outlasted a Trump-backed primary opponent after rejecting Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. Kemp won his first term in 2018, beating Democrat Stacey Abrams by just 55,000 votes. Abrams never admitted defeat and the two will face each other again now. Only this time, Kemp is running as a Republican who stood up to Trump. If Abrams wins, she will be the first black woman to rule in US history.

Michigan

Historic

Biden won Michigan for the Democratic Party in 2020 after Donald Trump became the first Republican to win in the
state since George HW Bush in 1988. Biden won Michigan by less than 155,000 votes.

What can happen

All eyes on Michigan will be on the race for state governor, with the current governor, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, taking on conservative commentator Tudor Dixon, who hopes his support for Trump will return the state to the Republicans.

The right to abortion will also be on the ballot. Democrats hope the issue will help boost voter turnout from their base.

The election itself will also be a crucial issue, as Michigan voters will decide on a measure to be voted on to expand access to the polls and elect a new secretary of state. Democrat Jocelyn Benson, the current secretary of state, faces off against the Republican
Kristina Karamo, who supported Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.

To keep Michigan Democrat, the party needs to perform well in Detroit-area counties, as well as improve scores in more democratic parts of the state, such as Ann Arbor and Lansing.

Republicans are likely to succeed in the western and northern parts of the state and try to build support in the historically conservative area around Grand Rapids, which has become more Democratic in recent years.

Nevada

Historic

All the candidates who won the 1980 to 2012 presidential election also won in Nevada. The sequence has been broken
when Hillary Clinton won in Nevada in 2016 (but lost to Trump at the national level) but returned to graduate school by voting for
Biden in 2020.

Biden won the state by a slightly smaller margin than Clinton, despite his improved performance at the national level. Although Democrats have won the state in every presidential election since 2008, the margin has shrunk a little each time.

What can happen

As Nevada still struggles to recover from the pandemic recession that has hit the tourism sector hard, Senator Catherine
Cortez Masto and Governor Steve Sisolak are among the Democratic Party’s most vulnerable current occupants.

Cortez Masto faces competition for the Senate from Adam Laxalt, the former state attorney general, who, despite losing the election to
governor in 2018, won the state in 2014. Governor Sisolak is running against Joe Lombardo, the sheriff of the largest county
of State.

Democracy is also on the ballot, with Republican Jim Marchant, who doubted the 2020 election, running for secretary of state.

Republican candidates typically do best in the state’s most sparsely populated rural counties. However, statewide races are generally won or lost in Democratic-leaning Las Vegas and the surrounding Clark County communities.

pennsylvania

Historic

Biden brought Pennsylvania back into the Democratic column in 2020. Trump narrowly won the state in 2016, but before that, the state had voted Democrat in six consecutive presidential elections.

What can happen

The state that put Biden on top in 2020 will be home to some of the most important races for senate and state governorship in the world.
country.

Republicans are hoping to win a Senate seat with Mehmet Oz, a former TV celebrity, while current Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman hopes his nontraditional ways will help him move the seat to the Democrats’ column.

In the gubernatorial race, the state’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro, is trying to maintain democratic control of the Pennsylvania government. The race took on even greater importance because the governor had the power to name the responsible authority.
by the elections. Shapiro’s opponent is Republican state senator Doug Mastriano, who was a central figure in Trump’s efforts to nullify the 2020 election.

The democratic base in Pennsylvania resides in urban Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, while the Republicans stake out the
most rural center in the state. Philadelphia’s suburbs have remained more Democrat, while Republicans have improved in the western and northeastern parts of the state.

Wisconsin

Historic

In 2020, Biden brought Wisconsin back to the Democrats by less than a point after Trump narrowly won the state in 2016. Trump’s victory broke the streak of Democratic presidential candidates who have won the state’s seven previous elections.

What can happen

Wisconsin is one of the most narrowly divided states in the nation. Republican Senator Ron Johnson and Democratic Governor
Tony Evers both face highly competitive re-election campaigns.

Johnson, who has a history of controversial statements about the pandemic and the Jan.
Democrat Mandela Barnes, who in the past has even supported the removal of police funding.

Evers faces Republican businessman Tim Michels, who won Trump’s support in the primaries by aggressively amplifying the former president’s lies about the 2020 election.

Democrats get the most support from historically Democratic Milwaukee and the capital Madison. The Republican base is in Milwaukee’s wealthier northern and western suburbs, as well as the less populated counties of central Wisconsin.