MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Primary voting closes today in Ohio. There are several competitive statewide races on the ballot for governor. There are also House and Senate races which could help determine the balance of power in Congress. But when it comes to what is motivating voters around southwest Ohio, it may be issues close to home. WVXU's Isabel Nissley in Cincinnati has more.
ISABEL NISSLEY, BYLINE: On a Saturday morning at the Hamilton County Board of Elections, people trickle into the long concrete building to vote early in Ohio's primary election. Susan Bailey (ph) carpooled here with a friend from Reading, an inner suburb of Cincinnati. The lifelong Republican says nothing could have stopped her from casting a ballot, even though drivers here in Ohio are paying some of the highest gas prices in the nation - on average, $5 for a gallon of regular.
SUSAN BAILEY: I'll carpool 10 people here - doesn't matter to me. I don't care what the price of gas is. Voting is a privilege, and people should take it very, very seriously.
NISSLEY: Bailey says she plans to vote against a proposed levy that would fund new city buildings for Reading. If passed, it could add hundreds of dollars to homeowners' annual property taxes. The retired bookkeeper says her fixed income makes new rising costs hard to afford.
BAILEY: When it went from the first year that I lived down here, from, like, 700 and some dollars to over 1,000, and now this one would raise it over another 235, it's like, jeez, you rob Peter to pay Paul? No. No. No.
NISSLEY: Property taxes are a controversial issue in Ohio, where homeowners pay among the highest rates in the country. State lawmakers have proposed several plans to try and lower costs. Other voters, like Democrat Patricia Molony, are worried about access to healthcare. She's a women's health provider from Norwood.
PATRICIA MOLONY: I have lots of patients that are concerned about not being able to access care that they need for pregnancy care or for women that live in rural areas and the healthcare centers that are going away and needing to drive to access care.
NISSLEY: Southwest Ohio lost two Planned Parenthood reproductive health clinics last year. Their CEO says the closures were due to cuts from the Republican-led Big Beautiful Bill and state budget changes. In 2024, voters in the suburbs outside of Cincinnati overwhelmingly voted for President Trump...
(SOUNDBITE OF CAR DOOR CLOSING)
NISSLEY: ...Including Clermont County, about 30 minutes east. Here, James Riley (ph) is heading into work at the county government offices. He says he votes Republican and is a fan of the president, for the most part.
JAMES RILEY: I love Trump, except that I wish he would calm his rhetoric. I mean, you know, he does good work, and then he ruins it by saying ignorant things.
NISSLEY: Riley, a veteran, says the U.S. war with Iran is weighing on his mind.
RILEY: I don't like war at all, so I'm hoping it's over. I don't know what he's going to do because I don't think the Iranians are going to give in. So I don't see an end, and I don't know what's going to (ph) happen.
NISSLEY: Also casting a ballot in Clermont County is Aaron Murphy (ph), a contractor for Duke Energy. He considers himself an independent and says top concerns this election include...
AARON MURPHY: Cost of living, the economy, gas prices (laughter).
NISSLEY: How's that impacting how you're going to vote?
MURPHY: I'm pulling the Democratic ballot. I voted the Republican primary in 2024, so I'm switching parties (laughter).
NISSLEY: He says he's voting in the Democratic primary because he hasn't seen the economy improve since the last election. This year's midterm races will likely test how much voters think the economy has improved under President Trump. Democrats will need more voters like Murphy if they want to pick up seats in a state where Republicans dominate statewide offices. For NPR News, I'm Isabel Nissley in Cincinnati. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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