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The Decoder· Matthias Bastian·· 10 days ago50

Exit polls show AI ranked last among voter priorities in the 2026 U.S. midterms

Exit polls show AI ranked last among voter priorities in the 2026 U.S. midterms

Brief overview

A 2026 US midterm election exit poll shows that 56% of respondents believe AI and data centers are decisive or important factors in voting decisions, ranking last among five surveyed topics. Government corruption leads with 90%, followed by the cost of living at 89%, the Iran war at 74%, and immigration enforcement at 73%. Despite recent surging public interest in AI, the issue still lags significantly behind all other issues.

Article

Matthias Bastian

Nov 4, 2026

AI and data center expansion ranked last among voter priorities in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections. In exit polls by NBC News and SSRS, 56 percent of respondents called AI and data centers a decisive or important factor in how they voted. That put the issue at the bottom of the five topics surveyed. Government corruption led at 90 percent, followed by cost of living at 89 percent, the war in Iran at 74 percent, and immigration enforcement at 73 percent. Public interest in AI has surged in recent months, but the topic still trailed every other issue by a wide margin.

Exit poll results from the 2026 U.S. midterms showing the share of voters who rated each issue as decisive or important. AI and data centers came in last at 56 percent. | Source: NBC News

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Source: The Decoder · the-decoder.com