As the 2024 election cycle continues its twist and turns after President Joe Biden’s shocking Sunday announcement that he was suspending his re-election campaign, an Associated Press report highlights the key issues that Americans are looking at for the upcoming election. The data includes Google searches from December 21, 2023 and maps out what issues were most commonly Googled and how interest in those issues either increased or decreased throughout the year. The data found that the four main topics that were most often researched involved crime, healthcare, social security and unemployment. Other searches that frequently appeared included the economy, immigration, the U.S. Supreme Court, race, abortion, minimum wage, inflation, supplemental social security (SSI), and homelessness.

Other polls have focused on the importance the economy has played in voters’ concerns. From July 2023 to February 2024, Data for Progress questioned voters about their priorities, asking “Of the choices listed below, which do you think are the top three most important issues for Congress to focus on?” Concerns about the economy have consistently remained a top concern for voters, with inflation originally being the top priority with 40 percent of Americans listing it as a top concern in July. However, by October, that number had dropped down to 32 percent while immigration climbed higher in priority, particularly amongst Republican voters. Data for Progress then revamped its polling in January and found that combining jobs, the economy, and inflation into a single category, the polling more accurately ascertained Americans’ concerns, with that category taking the top concern for Americans. The polling found that 68percent of voters concerned about jobs and inflation were concerned by the cost of food.

A Pew Research poll recently gave Trump a huge edge on immigration, the economy, and foreign policy. Trump was leading 52 percent over 35 percent when it came to how voters viewed him and Biden on the issue of immigration, while Trump was 54 percent to 40 percent on the economy. Trump also had a 10-point lead on foreign policy (49 percent to 39 percent). Biden led Trump on bipartisanship (40-32) and abortion (48-44). Where that leaves Democrats now with Kamala Harris seeming to be Biden’s likely, though not assured successor, remains to be seen. She has co-sponsored legislation that would ban any sort of abortion restrictions. She has supported universal healthcare and forgiving student debt. If she is the Democrat nominee, how her stances on those issues stack against former president Donald Trump could be a huge deciding factor of who ultimately wins the presidency in November.