Nov 24, 2021 - News

Mapping Pennsylvania's Google searches on political issues

Data: Google Trends; Maps: Jacque Schrag/Axios

Pennsylvania's Google searches related to critical race theory occur more often in Democratic congressional districts, according to an Axios analysis of Google Trends data.

  • That includes the 4th and 6th Districts in Philadelphia's suburbs, represented by Rep. Madeleine Dean and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan.
  • Yes, but: The exception to this rule is the 1st District, where Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick represents Bucks and Montgomery counties.

Why it matters: Both parties will use data and technology to pinpoint issues that will resonate locally with voters through the 2022 midterms, Axios' Stef Kight writes.

By the numbers: Pennsylvania is mostly on par with national trends on three issues — critical race theory, inflation and immigration.

  • All of the state's congressional districts searched for terms related to unemployment more often than the national average. The western Republican congressional districts closer to Pittsburgh have some of the highest levels of interest in unemployment in the state.
  • The 12th District, represented by Republican Rep. Fred Keller, searched about inflation the most, while the 2nd District, represented by Democrat Rep. Brendan Boyle, did so the least.

What's ahead: Axios and Google Trends are launching a project to track which political issues voters are searching for in each congressional district.

  • The first iteration covers Nov. 2-4, right after the election earlier this month. But stay tuned for more stories as we dig into the data.
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