SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Ohio has become a reliably red state over recent decades - perhaps not this year. There are several close races on the ballot, including a high-profile contest for U.S. Senate. But if Democrats want to win the seat, they will have to reach out to traditionally Republican voters. NPR politics reporter Saige Miller traveled to rural Ohio to get a sense of how voters in the conservative stronghold are thinking about the election.
(SOUNDBITE OF VEHICLE STARTING)
SAIGE MILLER, BYLINE: On a crisp fall day in rural central Ohio, farmer Chris Gibbs climbs into his John Deere offroad utility vehicle to ride around his land.
CHRIS GIBBS: Started in 1983 on our own, with $2,500, a pickup truck and a 2-year-old daughter.
MILLER: Gibbs is a first-generation farmer in Shelby County, Ohio. He grows 560 acres of corn, soybeans, alfalfa hay, and he tacked on 90 cows for good measure.
(SOUNDBITE OF COW MOOING)
MILLER: Farmers are known to vote red. So are rural voters nationwide. They backed Trump in 2024 by 40 points. But recent polling has shown his approval rating in rural America dropping dramatically amid high inflation, tariffs and the war in Iran. Inside his workshop, Gibbs explained how costly running his operation has become under President Trump.
GIBBS: And we are through the third year going into almost the fourth year of a cash flow and working capital crisis in agriculture. And it's hurt. It's hurting our farmers.
MILLER: Gibbs voted for Trump in 2016. Now Gibbs is the chair of the rural Ohio Democratic Caucus, and he's voting for Sherrod Brown.
GIBBS: We're going to get Sherrod Brown across the line. I have complete confidence in that.
MILLER: Brown is the former Senator of Ohio. He spent more than 30 years in Congress before losing his reelection bid in 2024. Brown faces Republican Senator Jon Husted in one of the most competitive Senate races this midterm cycle. He is a strong conservative and endorsed by Trump. But for either Brown or Husted to win, they need Ohio's rural voters.
MATTHEW WHITE: There's a lot of people in rural Ohio that are not happy, whether it's gas prices, diesel prices, the tariffs, the war.
MILLER: Matthew White is a Democrat who lives in Athens. At a weekday farmers' market, people are stocking up on locally grown produce. While Athens proper is more liberal, the Appalachian region outside the city is not. Paige Walters is the farmers' market promotions manager. She says for the first time in a while, the Athens County GOP has a table at the market this year.
PAIGE WALTERS: I think that does speak to the political climate right now, that it's pretty competitive.
MILLER: Dean Ferrell says the price of everything is weighing on him this election season.
DEAN FERRELL: I got to save money wherever I can, buy reduced and on sale items and stuff like that. There's very few things that I pay full price for. You got to to survive.
MILLER: Ferrell considers himself an independent. Out of the two Senate candidates, he's leaning towards Husted. He says he just doesn't trust the Democratic Party. Small vegetable farmer Larry Cowdery of Longbottom, Ohio, is worried about affordability, too, specifically the price of healthcare.
LARRY COWDERY: So that's the big, big issue that we run into is, since we're self-employed, we have to find health insurance somewhere.
MILLER: He says it's gotten more expensive under the Trump administration, and he's not convinced Husted will do anything to help his situation.
COWDERY: I don't trust Jon Husted at all. I think he's a crook (laughter).
MILLER: At an event in Guysville, Ohio, Melissa Gant (ph) defended Husted. She thinks Brown is a career politician.
MELISSA GANT: He ran the country down. He ran Ohio down. We just need new blood in there. And I think Husted has done a good job stepping in.
MILLER: Her feelings match a mood felt nationwide that candidates with new ideas are more appealing than those with proven record. Brown has been investing in outreach to rural voters, so is Husted. It's clear both candidates want to stake claim, highlighting the power of voters here. Saige Miller, NPR News, Athens County, Ohio.
(SOUNDBITE OF MNELIA SONG, "CLOSURE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
