The Washington Examiner is following the key issues voters care about as they prepare to vote for the next president of the United States. The specific issues being tracked are Social Security, crime, abortion, the economy, and immigration. 

The issues were chosen with the help of the Associated Press issues tracker. The Washington Examiner subsequently compared five of the key issues in Google Trends on a state-by-state basis, revealing which topics are most important to voters in swing contests, as well as the local contests of Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

Here, you can track how important these various concerns are to the voters in the district on a rolling 30-day basis.

Crime 

Crime was the top issue for district voters. As of October, crime rates are down by 17% compared to 2023, according to reports from the Metropolitan Police Department. There have been 144 homicides in Washington this year, which is a 33% decrease from October 2023.

Assault with a dangerous weapon is down by 27%, and robbery is down by 39%. Violent crime in total is down by 35%, and motor vehicle theft dropped by 31%. 

This is a steep change from last year, though, which saw a general increase in crime throughout the district. 

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Social Security 

Social Security came in second place for voters. In the district, Social Security benefits are not taxed — even Social Security income that is taxed at the federal level is not taxed in Washington. 

It was reported in Sept. 2024 that the Social Security Administration in Washington was experiencing IT issues both online and in person, restricting people’s access to the administration. The district has also added a warning on its government website about Social Security scams. 

In May 2024, the Ways and Means Committee heard comments from the SSA’s commissioner, Martin O’Malley, about reforms to protect seniors and taxpayers. Many problems were highlighted, including improper payments from the SSA, the disability application backlog of over 1 million, and customer service phone calls that leave residents waiting for hours without getting issues resolved. 

With steps being taken toward amending the SSA for the betterment of beneficiaries, it’s now a waiting game to see when changes will be made. 

Abortion

Abortion ranked third for voters in the district despite the procedure being protected at every stage of pregnancy for both residents and visitors. Minors do not need parental notice or permission to receive an abortion, and there is no mandatory waiting period or counseling sessions.

Economy

Worries over the economy came in second-to-last for voters in the district. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Economic Analysis, the district’s gross domestic production has seen limited growth since 2022. Its GDP rate of 2.4% amounted to $179.2 billion in goods and services as of November 2023. The growth rate places the district 49th in the nation for economic growth. 

Also in November 2023, Washington’s unemployment rate was higher than the national average, coming it at 5% and placing it as the second-highest unemployment rate in the country. 

The local economy accounts for 0.65% of the nation’s economy, and unsurprisingly, the district’s highest-grossing industry was government enterprises, amounting to $55.347 billion, followed by professional, scientific, and technical services, valuing at $39.06 billion. Educational services saw 5.1% growth, and real estate grew by 16.9%. 

Immigration 

Immigration ranks last for voters. With 1 in 7 district residents being immigrants themselves and 1 in 9 having at least one immigrant parent, it’s an unsurprising ranking. 

Statistics from the American Immigration Council show that of the 98,500 immigrants in the district, 71,700 are in the workforce, accounting for 17.9% of it. The STEM industry consists of 21.1% immigrant workers, preceded only by the finance industry with 21.6%. There are 11,457 international students studying in Washington, D.C., with an economic contribution of $525.5 million. 

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As of 2018, immigrants almost outpace U.S.-born district residents in higher education as 58% of immigrants hold a college or higher degree and 61% of U.S.-born adults hold degrees. Immigrants also make up 30% of entrepreneurs, seeing $172.4 million in business income. As of 2022, immigrants paid $2.2 billion in taxes and had just under $5 billion in spending power. 

Of all the immigrants in the district, 52.5% are naturalized, 18,300 are eligible for naturalization, and 13.3% are undocumented. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KCBD) – The second 2024 Texas South Plains Honor Flight spent its first day in the nation’s capital with visits to the WWII, Air Force and 9/11 Pentagon Memorials.

Prior to its arrival in Washington, D.C. the flight boarded the plane in Lubbock through an honor guard made up of various law enforcement and military members.

The flight of 83 Vietnam Veterans and three Korean War Veterans were surprised by mail from family, friends and grateful Americans on board the flight to Dulles International Airport.

Upon landing at Dulles, the group got another surprise, a crowd of at least 100 strangers who held signs, cheered and applauded as they exited the airport to board three buses.

Those buses took the veterans to the first wreath laying of the October Honor Flight trip at the World War II Memorial. It was placed at the Wall of Stars by Korean War veteran Lowell Caddell, the flight’s oldest veteran at 94. He was brought to tears by the ceremony, saying it was the greatest honor.

From there, the flight placed its second wreath at the Air Force Memorial, led by veterans Neal Pipkin and Don Davis. Pipkin said it was a sobering moment, remembering those he served with who made the ultimate sacrifice.

A visit to the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial was the final stop on the first day of the flight.

Veterans will observe the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier inside Arlington National Cemetery to begin the second day on Sunday.

The Texas South Plains Honor Flight is an all-expenses paid trip for veterans to Washington, D.C. to see the monuments, memorials and museums built in honor of their service and sacrifice.

If you would like to learn more, apply, volunteer or donate, click here. Watch KCBD NewsChannel 11 on Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11, for the Texas South Plains Honor Flight Telethon, including stories from this October flight.

Copyright 2024 KCBD. All rights reserved.

Tens of thousands of Christians poured onto the National Mall on Saturday to atone, pray and take a stand for America – which, in their vision, should be ruled by a Christian god.

Summoned to Washington DC by the multilevel marketing professional-turned-Christian “apostle” Jenny Donnelly and the anti-LGBTQ+ celebrity pastor Lou Engle, they streamed onto the lawn holding blue and pink banners emblazoned with the hashtag #DontMessWithOurKids – a nod to the myth that children are being indoctrinated into adopting gay and transgender identities.

It was no coincidence that the event was held on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur: evangelicals and charismatic Christians find spiritual meaning in Old Testament scripture, Jewish rituals and support for Israel – where they believe the end times prophecy will take place.

November’s presidential election hung heavy over the crowd, too. A promotional newsletter for the event called on “the Lord’s authority over the election process and our nation’s leadership”, and organizers handed out flyers promoting a pre-election prayer event hosted by the Donald Trump-aligned organization Turning Point USA Faith.

“I was here at January 6,” said Tami Barthen, an attendee who traveled from Pennsylvania to attend the rally, and who described her experience of Trump supporters carrying out a deadly attack on the US Capitol as profoundly spiritual. “It’s not Democrat versus Republican,” she said. “It’s good versus evil.”

It’s the first of a series of Christian nationalist gatherings in DC to rally believers to the Capitol ahead of the 2024 election.

Donnelly billed the event as a rallying call for mothers concerned about changing gender norms in the modern US and casting the gathering at the Capitol as an opportunity for women to stand their ground and play a pivotal role in changing the country’s cultural and political trajectory.

The rally is a collaboration organized by multiple far-right Christian leaders affiliated with the New Apostolic Reformation, a movement on the political far right that seeks to establish long-term Christian dominion over government and society as well as get Trump a second presidency in November.

Matthew Taylor, a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies, said the effort was aimed at “creating a network – a mass of people – who see it as their spiritual mission to take over Washington DC”

Most prominent in the push to turn out women to the National Mall is Engle, a rightwing pastor and staunch opponent of LGBTQ+ rights and abortion, whose tutelage of anti-gay Ugandan pastors and coordination of mass prayer mobilizations has earned him international notoriety and celebrity.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which characterizes Engle as an anti-LGBTQ+ extremist, notes that Engle has in the past compared the anti-LGBTQ+ push to the secessionist south during the American civil war, calling on opponents of gay rights to emulate the Confederate general Robert E Lee, who “was able to restrain Washington”.

Donnelly’s vision – of a crowd of moms descending on the Capitol in pink and blue – is her own. Engle, whose mass prayer rallies have drawn hundreds of thousands to DC in the past, offers a platform to turn people out.

“We are seeing a million women and their families coming together to see this great country turn their hearts back to God,” said Donnelly, on a 21 June podcast promoting the march. Donnelly, who lives in Portland, Oregon, with her family, described how during the Covid-19 lockdowns and Black Lives Matter protests – twin forces she says shut down her church – she was called by God to go deeper into the political realm.

“I said: ‘Lord, I’m just a mom of five, I have a great church – it’s not huge. I’ve done women’s retreats, I think I’ve been doing my part in the kingdom and I love Jesus so much, but I don’t even know where to begin, but would you put me in the fight?’” she said.

Donnelly has sought to pass along that message to other Christian women through an organization called Her Voice Movement Action, which organizes women into decentralized, independently-run “prayer hubs” – a source of spiritual community for women that also functions as a political mobilization tool.

“We’ve been praying for our nation for a couple years in small prayer hubs,” said Louette Madison, who traveled from Washington state to DC for the rally. Madison has teenagers in the public school system and described hoping for a day when prayer is embraced in schools, saying: “I think that the schools are kind of getting rid of the values, and also getting rid of the discipline, [and] when there’s no consequences, that can cause a lot more chaos in school.”

The decentralized organizing model carries echoes of Donnelly’s previous life: before reinventing herself as a leader in the New Apostolic Reformation, Donnelly earned millions through the multilevel marketing company AdvoCare, which collapsed after settling with the Federal Trade Commission for $150m in a lawsuit alleging the company was an illegal pyramid scheme.

From Peru to Portland

Years before Donnelly flew the #DontMessWithOurKids flag, a movement under the same name took hold in Peru, promoted by Christian Rosas, a conservative Christian political strategist and consultant in the mining industry. The evangelical “No te metas con mis hijos” – “don’t mess with my kids” – coalition, which opposed LGBTQ+ inclusion and abortion, earned followers in 2016 during a wave of conservative backlash against governmental efforts to introduce themes of gender equality and LGBTQ+ inclusion in the school system.

When the government issued lockdown orders to slow the spread of Covid-19, it issued travel restrictions by gender, allowing women and men to leave the house on different days of the week and affirming that trans people’s gender identities would be respected in enforcing the rule. Rosas took issue with the trans-inclusive policy, claiming that police officers were obligated to enforce the rule based on travelers’ identification cards, not their gender identities.

During the lockdown orders, the Peruvian investigative reporting outlet OjoPúblico reported on 18 incidents of humiliating and abusive arrests of trans women by the police.

What started as street protests has turned into an electoral strategy to elect ultra-conservative allies of the Christian right into office in Peru. These lawmakers have passed a slew of socially conservative laws, including one this year that classifies transgender identities as mental illnesses.

Donnelly has taken up the mantle of this movement among Christian moms in the US, drawing directly from Rosas’s vision in Peru and consulting him on strategy.

“We challenged the law, why? Because the law was unjust. We challenged the curriculum. Why? Because the curriculum was unjust,” said Rosas on a podcast interview with Donnelly on 6 November 2023. “TV, news [outlets], they mocked us every day, they mocked us, they ridiculed us, saying: ‘Look at them, they’re radical, religious, whatever,’ but they saw that we are not retreating.”

Don’t Mess With Our Kids and No te metas con mis hijos have both attempted to cast their organizations as grassroots mobilizations. In a 2017 interview with Vice News, a spokesperson for the group spoke on the condition of anonymity, claiming to speak for “the collective”.

Donnelly’s Her Voice Movement adopts a similar approach. In a recording of a Zoom call in August – which journalist Dominick Bonny obtained and shared with the Guardian – Her Voice Movement spokesperson Naomi Van Wyk said the group had teamed up with Moms for Liberty to launch a multi-state campaign called March for Kids, but cautioned members to keep the association private.

“The parent company is Moms for Liberty, but they don’t wanna be recognized. They really want this movement to be grassroots, and to make a public statement that there are hundreds and thousands of people across the country that are coming together under one umbrella,” said Van Wyk.

Elizabeth Salazar Vega, a reporter covering gender and politics in Peru, said she was not surprised that the push had taken hold in the US – or that it had found expression just weeks before a presidential election.

“This is the ideal scenario to bind these voices together, that could normally appear siloed in civil society,” Salazar Vega told the Guardian in Spanish. “I don’t think it would be impossible for this to escalate rapidly in the United States.”

Sean Feucht, a Christian nationalist pastor who has organized “Kingdom to the Capitol” protests in swing states, is planning a similar march in DC later this month.