{
  "id": 7780334,
  "title": "Social Security Could Be a Deciding Issue in Key Senate Races",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/social-security-could-be-a-deciding-issue-in-key-senate-races",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-16T12:01:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Newsweek",
    "slug": "newsweek",
    "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/social-security-could-be-deciding-issue-key-senate-races-12448317"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Voters in five key battleground states for the upcoming November U.S. Senate elections are gravely concerned about potential cuts to Social Security benefits, according to a recent poll. The Peter G. Peterson Foundation survey reveals that 77% of voters in Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas would be more likely to support a lawmaker who presents a plan to prevent these cuts. If Congress fails to address the program's projected funding shortfall, benefits could be reduced by 22% for tens of millions of current and future beneficiaries. With control of the Senate at stake, all five races are considered competitive in the midterm elections.\n\nDemocrats currently hold seats in Georgia and Michigan, while North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas are held by Republicans. The survey, conducted by Global Strategy Group for the Peterson Foundation, interviewed 2,500 registered voters from August 20 to 27, with 500 interviews in each state. The findings show bipartisan support for potential solutions to the funding issue, with 81% of respondents expressing concern about the automatic benefit cuts. In each state, the percentage of voters who would be more likely to support a candidate with a plan to address the issue ranged from 75% in Texas to 80% in North Carolina, with many respondents expressing \"much more likely\" to support such a candidate.",
  "summary": "Voters said they would be more likely to back a candidate who has a plan to fix the looming Social Security funding crisis.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}