In the Midterm Elections, Voters Have One Calculation: Will the Family's Expenses Be Covered?

Only a few weeks remain until the midterm elections in the United States. This November 3 vote will determine into whose hands control of Congress will go. And in voters' words, this election has one central issue — the calculation of running the family's expenses.

Talking with voters in four states — Alaska, Iowa, New Hampshire and Maine — frustration over fuel prices, heating costs and daily expenses was found almost everywhere. For many, this vote is effectively an evaluation of President Donald Trump's work.

Retired army major Josh York, who works in health administration in Anchorage, Alaska, has voted for Trump three times. According to him, in remote areas of the state the price of fuel has risen to as much as 24 dollars per gallon. Recently, going to rural Alaska, he had to pay 8.99 dollars per gallon.

York blames the Iran war for this price increase. According to experts, because of that war, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has decreased greatly — the route through which, before the war, about one-fifth of the world's total oil and gas was transported.

This week Trump went outside the continental United States to Alaska to campaign for Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. Sullivan's opponent is Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola. This is one of the four seats the Democrats are hoping for in order to gain control of the Senate.

At a rally in Wasilla, 45 miles north of Anchorage, Trump argued in favor of the Iran war, saying the war will end soon and prices will fall as soon as the war ends. He also commented that the opponents have turned the election into an 'affordability' issue. He claimed the problem had been created by the opponents themselves and that his administration has reduced it to a great extent.

But the picture of voters' sentiment is different. According to a recent survey, 52 percent of Americans expressed strong dissatisfaction with Trump's work, and the president's popularity has fallen to record low levels in recent months. The notable point is that although Trump won Alaska by a 13-point margin in 2024, this time the Senate race there is being viewed as a toss-up, or uncertain.

Sullivan himself, a Trump supporter and in favor of the Iran war, has acknowledged that prices are rising because of the conflict and that the war should end 'soon.' A voter in Fairbanks said his home heating cost has now exceeded even his mortgage payment.

York told journalist Martha Raddatz that although he voted for Trump, he is dissatisfied with the president in all areas — managing the economy, the Iran war, and the overall direction of the country. The undecided voter's final words were, 'I have to see which is good for my family, good for my children.'

The same tune is heard in Iowa as well. Livestock farmer Dan Pedersen, also a three-time Trump voter, said filling their 3,500-gallon fuel tank now costs 20,000 dollars, whereas a year ago it cost about 12,000 dollars. His comment is that the shock of this cost is hitting everything from transporting livestock to pickup trucks.

In Pedersen's words, hesitation about Trump has appeared even among his 'staunch Republican friends.' Representative Ashley Hinson, the Republican candidate for Iowa's Senate seat, has moved away from the president's position and called for an end to the Iran war.

To reduce the price of diesel, Trump also announced last week, in a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a 'diesel deal,' under which the two leaders were said to have agreed to open up the supply of Russian diesel held up by sanctions.

All in all, as the November 3 vote draws closer, it is becoming clearer — in this midterm election, the family budget calculation is becoming bigger than the candidates. Fuel and the cost of living may themselves determine control of Congress.