2014 Midterm Election Guide: What Are the Issues?

Immigration

What's the Issue?

This year, tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants, many of them children, crossed the US-Mexico border. Immigration reform was always numero uno on President Obama's to-do list, but after this summer it became even more of a concern for voters. And since there are a lot of opinions on what to do about this, and nervous Dems looking at the calendar, Obama's decided it might be a good idea to wait until after people head to the polls on Election Day to take this up again.

What the Right Says...

Giving undocumented immigrants "amnesty" is never a good idea, but the fact that Obama's waiting on taking action "smacks of raw politics."

What the Left Says...

Phew.

Which States Could Make the Difference?

Texas: This year, tens of thousands of unaccompanied children crossed the US-Mexico border into Texas. So it’s a big voter issue in the state, especially in the gov. race.

Arizona: Like Texas, has felt the pressure of a rising undocumented population. Arizona's a border state, and voters are zeroing in on the issue.

Virginia: David Brat (R) won his state's House primary by tapping into conservatives' anger against Majority Leader Eric Cantor for supporting some immigration reform. Making it Da Brat’s favorite issue.

Florida: The Hispanic vote's so important that both candidates for gov. picked Hispanic running mates.

theSkimm

What do you get when you mix a key voting bloc, an election year, and an influx of unaccompanied minors crossing the US border? A melting pot of issues that’s been overflowing.