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Voters in Ohio and Indiana choose candidates in statewide primaries today. In Ohio's election, they'll decide the Democratic and Republican nominees for governor, U.S. Senate and some important House races. Ideastream's Abbey Marshall reports on how the rising cost of living is affecting voters' decisions.
ABBEY MARSHALL, BYLINE: On the corner of a bustling intersection in Cleveland, gas station clerk Kimberly Thompson (ph) cheerily greets customers.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL RINGING)
KIMBERLY THOMPSON: Hey, girlie (laughter).
MARSHALL: With gas prices nearing $5 a gallon, it's a greeting that is sometimes not met with the same level of enthusiasm.
THOMPSON: When gas gets this high, we have many customers and people that'll stand in the parking lot asking for money or coming in with gas cans 'cause they've ran out before they could get here.
MARSHALL: The recent increase in gas prices due to the U.S. war with Iran weighs on voters like Thompson.
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MARSHALL: The Democrat says she works full time and makes above minimum wage. That's $11 an hour in Ohio. And she says she still struggles to make ends meet.
THOMPSON: Like, $20 would fill my car for, like, a week, week and a half, and now that's a half a tank.
MARSHALL: Around the corner at a neighborhood park, architect Michael O'Neill tosses a Frisbee to his dog.
MICHAEL O’NEILL: Ready?
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MARSHALL: He's deleted news apps from his phone. He says he doesn't want to closely follow politics in an increasingly red state. But he says showing up to the polls is the least he can do. For him, that means voting blue in every election, including primaries.
O’NEILL: What I've noticed is I feel like I'm doing better financially than ever before, and yet we're still barely getting by.
MARSHALL: A father of two, his biggest costs are childcare and healthcare.
O’NEILL: And everyone I know is kind of in the same boat. No one really knows what to do about childcare. And then schools are a huge problem for us.
MARSHALL: Ohio has a universal voucher program, so O'Neill could choose to send his kids to a private or charter school, and he's considering it. Like many urban districts, Cleveland Metropolitan School District is facing a major budget deficit. Last month, they laid off more than a hundred teachers. Those budget problems could be exacerbated by a statewide citizen push to abolish property taxes this fall. Ohioans are paying among the highest in the country, and that's a hot topic here. Republican Frank Antenucci of Montville Township, about an hour outside the city, says that's what his neighbors are always talking about.
FRANK ANTENUCCI: Right now, people are upset about their property taxes. People are upset about what a pound of ground beef costs. So I don't know that it's necessarily the government's responsibility to all of a sudden make everything affordable for us. But, man, they got to get out of the way and stop doing harm.
MARSHALL: Like a majority of Ohioans, Antenucci voted for Trump, which he says has not panned out the way he hoped it would. He's critical, too, of the Republican-led statehouse.
ANTENUCCI: I don't have faith in any of them. I think they're too far removed from the locals who are experiencing these issues.
MARSHALL: Even so, Antenucci says he plans to vote for Republican candidates this year, as he sees the alternative - Democrats - as a party he just can't support.
Meanwhile, Tim Ostrander, who owns a gun shop in Richfield decked out with Trump paraphernalia, says he's pleased with the president's progress, particularly when it comes to immigration enforcement.
TIM OSTRANDER: People are finally able to and not afraid to speak up and say something about it.
MARSHALL: He plans to continue voting along party lines. He says he likes Republican gubernatorial front-runner Vivek Ramaswamy as a person, but he's not sure about his policy proposals yet. As someone who doesn't consider himself ultraconservative, Ostrander says he still prefers Republican candidates to the liberal alternative.
OSTRANDER: I think it's moronic that people that make money should have to give it back.
MARSHALL: One thing everyone seems to agree on - rising property taxes are a problem. Ostrander also cites it as a top concern.
For NPR News, I'm Abbey Marshall in Cleveland. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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