A new report out of Wisconsin underscored the importance of nagging inflation and high grocery prices to voters' choices in November's presidential election, with some interview subjects saying they could be persuaded to support a different candidate than before.
Reporting from red-leaning Sheboygan, Wis., the Washington Post interviewed residents from both sides of the aisle in the manufacturing town that has one of the state's lowest unemployment rates and gas, food and housing prices that fall below the national average. But the 25-percent spike in grocery prices over the past four years there has locals griping; the Post cited interviews with nearly three-dozen locals where nearly all "cited high food prices as a major financial hurdle."
"When Trump was president, there wasn’t inflation," one Trump voter shopping at a Piggly Wiggly told the Post. "We could afford food."
A local restaurant owner told the Post that people in Sheboygan are working middle class folks, and they feel the pinch of paying more for groceries.
"Even though inflation is coming down, prices are still up and people feel it," Stefano Viglietti told the Post. "There’s still a fair amount of angst about prices. People here aren’t bazillionaires."
Inflation is one of the most difficult problems facing President Biden as he seeks another term, while former President Trump looks to hammer his advantage with voters on economic issues. Biden's defenders have pointed to inflation being a global problem compounded by conflicts abroad and supply chain problems.
Biden has also touted his economic record as a selling point, boasting at his State of the Union about record job creation coming out of the pandemic, a roaring stock market, low unemployment and an economy that's "the envy of the world." Inflation has eased off somewhat in the past year, but prices nevertheless have continued to rise.
Interview subjects discussed no longer buying certain foods or dining out because it was too expensive. One woman, Lois Garcia, said she supported Biden in 2020 but is considering Trump now because she's paying more for food and health insurance.
"Jobs are important, pay is important, education for our children is important. But Trump did help us out with the cost of things, and that’s important, too," she told the Post.
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Another, Nikki Gorski, also discussed making dining sacrifices but said she's a committed Biden voter due to women's issues. A factory worker named Steve supported Trump in 2020 but said he's sitting out this year, saying neither Trump nor Biden deserve another shot. A retired roofer, Shane Reynolds, is living off Social Security and grumbled that things were "100 percent better" under Trump.
"Prices really skyrocketed since Biden took over. I have to walk past half this stuff now because I can’t afford it," he said.
"The mood around the sodas past Aisle 9 of the Piggly Wiggly is a stark reminder of what matters most to Americans this election year. In poll after poll, voters say inflation — and grocery prices in particular — is a leading concern," the Post reported.
Trump won Wisconsin in the 2016 presidential election, breaking a long Democratic winning streak in the state dating back to 1988. Biden won the state in 2020, returning it to the blue column. Both the Trump and Biden victories came by less than a percentage point, and Wisconsin will be a hotly contested swing state again this fall.
Whether inflation will be a decisive issue in November remains to be seen. Republicans were bullish on their chances in 2022 when the issue dominated media coverage that year and seemed likely to drag down Democrats.
However, Republicans wound up having a disappointing performance, gaining only a tiny majority in the House and losing an additional Senate seat.
