Voters’ Voice Poll: Democrats hold an edge for Congress, even as another poll finding complicates the picture.
SpaceX's Louisiana bet: The state laid the groundwork before the company's $100 billion project was publicly confirmed.
Georgia road costs: Resurfacing costs are rising much faster than the money available to pay for them.
Flock cameras pulled back: Misuse and privacy concerns are prompting cities to rethink license plate readers.
The data center trade-off: How much strain should communities accept for AI-driven growth? We asked voters.
Poll: Voters wary of socialism as Democrats hold 2026 edge
What we found: The Center Square's latest Voters’ Voice Poll found 63% of voters are concerned about the growth of socialism or communism in American politics, with 36% very concerned and 27% somewhat concerned. Nearly half of Democrats, 49%, share that concern. At the same time, voters favor Democrats for Congress by 47% to 42%, with independents breaking for Democrats four months before the 2026 midterms.
The stakes: Democratic socialist candidates have won primaries and advanced to November races in states including New York and Florida, putting the issue before voters this fall.
The 2028 field: The same poll tracked the next presidential race. Vice President JD Vance climbed to 41% among Republicans, his best showing since October, while former Vice President Kamala Harris still leads Democrats at 28%, down from a 33% high. Pollster Mike Noble said economic pain, especially among younger voters, is driving the shift.
Where it stands: The midterms are four months away and the 2028 primaries two years out. The Center Square will keep tracking both.
3 States
Louisiana: SpaceX will spend $100 billion to build its largest rocket launch site yet in Vermilion Parish. Before the company's involvement was public, Gov. Jeff Landry and state lawmakers passed tax breaks, liability protections for aerospace firms, and a law shielding some aerospace records from disclosure. The deal shows how aggressively states now compete for major employers, including limiting what the public gets to see.
Georgia: Interstate repaving costs in Georgia have jumped 62% since 2020, a state engineer told lawmakers this month, while the state's gas tax revenue, which funds road work, has grown just 36%. The gap is forcing Georgia to pull money away from other planned road projects, a squeeze other states are also feeling as construction costs outpace transportation budgets nationwide.
Washington: A new 50% U.S. tariff on a wide range of Canadian imports took effect Aug. 22. Washington's economy is especially exposed since the state shares a nearly 700-mile border with Canada and sent about $7 billion in exports there last year. State economists say it is too early to gauge the full impact, but earlier modeling of a broad U.S.-Canada trade fight projected more than 30,000 Washington jobs at risk and higher prices on clothing, furniture, food, gas, electricity, and used cars.
2 Issues
Public safety: California lawmakers are weighing a bill to cut how long police can keep license plate reader data to 14 days by 2027, as cities in Arizona and Virginia pause or end their Flock camera contracts over misuse cases, audits, and privacy concerns. An Institute for Justice database has logged 170 misuse incidents nationwide, including officers who used the systems to stalk romantic partners or look up family members. Police departments defend the cameras as crime-fighting tools, and Flock says its auditing is what surfaces the abuse in the first place.
Energy: Sixty-eight percent of voters say local communities should be able to limit data centers if they strain electricity, water, land, or infrastructure, according to the latest Voters’ Voice Poll. Just 22% say the economic benefits are worth it. Pollster Mike Noble said voters see the incentives offered to build these centers as a downside, but worry more about the strain on local resources.
1 Number
$17 billion
That's the most Meta has agreed to pay states over 10 years to settle claims that Facebook and Instagram's addictive features harmed children's mental health. California is getting the largest share, up to $2.1 billion, and plans to use it to help treat and prevent the mental health harms linked to social media, Attorney General Rob Bonta told The Center Square.
Supreme Court to decide if states can require proof of citizenship to vote
Landmark Legal Foundation's Michael O'Neill explains a case that could decide how far states can go to keep non-citizens from voting. The question is whether Arizona's 2022 law, which requires proof of citizenship to register, breaks a decades-old court agreement and a federal voting law. The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case this fall and rule by June 2027.
Mike Morath, Texas Education Commissioner
A Texas State Auditor's Office review found that management pay at the Texas Education Agency, which Commissioner Mike Morath oversees, jumped 64% to $44.7 million, with one manager for roughly every three and a half employees, more than state law allows. State Rep. Ana-Maria Rodriguez, who wrote the bill requiring the review, has asked a state oversight committee to dig deeper. The agency controls $40 billion in school funding each year, and lawmakers now want to know if the extra management pay is coming at students' expense.
How important is it to you that hospitals and doctors share their prices before you receive care?
The Center Square asked voters nationwide the same question this month. See how your answer compares in this issue.
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