5 takeaways from exit polling of the 2022 midterms

4. Republicans slightly improved their performance with parents from 2020 as education concerns loom

Amid concerns about the state of public education in the U.S., the exit polling from the 2022 election shows a slight improvement in performance for Republicans among parents as school districts across the U.S. face criticism for embracing critical race theory, sexually explicit material, LGBT ideology and other controversial ideas.

Among men with children, Republicans won by 12 points in 2022 compared to a one-point loss to Democrats in 2020. Democrats still won a majority of women with children in 2022, although the party’s support among mothers shrank from 56% in 2020 to 51% in 2022. Men and women with children comprised equal shares of the electorate in both 2020 and 2022, shrinking from 17% apiece two years ago to 14% apiece this year.

Respondents with children younger than 18 living at home flipped from narrowly supporting Democrats in 2020 to narrowly supporting Republicans in 2022. Democrats won this group by six points in 2020, while Republicans won parents with minor children by four points this year, signaling a 10-point swing. At the same time, parents with minor children as the overall share of the electorate dropped from 33% two years ago to 28% in this year’s election.