NBC elections analyst Steve Kornacki discussed the issues voters care most about ahead of the 2022 midterm election during an appearance Tuesday morning on "The Today Show." <blockquote>STEVE KORNACKI: We've talked all year about the economy and inflation being important issues. How about this? A "New York Times" poll, brand new here, asking voters what is the top issue on your mind this election. I haven't seen it this dramatic in a poll. Add the economy and inflation together, that is 44%. We are getting close to half of all respondents saying that's their top issue. Nothing else even cracks 10% right now. We talked about the Republicans, when it comes to the economy and inflation, having a clear advantage in the poms. SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC: That brings us to the next question on the poll, the generic ballot. They just ask, would you like a Republican or Democrat to control Congress? And there has been some movement here? STEVE KORNACKI: Typically this is a good indicator of where things end up in midterm elections. This is the average of the generic ballot right now. You can see the Republicans with a lead here. That is a 2.2% lead for Republicans. That's close, but we were here a week ago taking you through the generic ballot, and a week ago it was inside of one point. You had inflation news over the last week that certainly didn't help the Democrats and it seems as the economy moves to center stage the Republicans are improving their chances here. SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: And a few weeks ago the Democrats had the advantage. So you see the momentum in the final weeks. Let's talk about the issue of crime. Not high on the list of voters' concerns and yet it seems to be making an impact on certain races. STEVE KORNACKI: It's fascinating because we showed you the top issue voters have. Crime doesn't rate high there, but it doesn't mean it's not on their minds. A place where I think it is having an impact is Wisconsin, one of the key Senate races, Ron Johnson, a two-term Republican incumbent, he leads in the polling average over his Democratic challenger. He has been leaning heavily on crime. Interesting poll that came out of Wisconsin this week, asked things a little bit differently. They asked: Are these issues important to you? That's what's being asked here. Inflation tops the list but look at crime. It's close to 90%. I think also striking, abortion is under 80%. Republicans running heavily on crime. Democrats running heavily on abortion. It looks like in this Wisconsin race, crime may have more resonance than abortion. </blockquote>