Warren, like many Rust Belt towns, is remaking itself. After the closure of steel mills and industries leaving town throughout the years, this election marks a time when residents of the northeast Ohio city want to see a change.
But, that change looks different depending on who you talk to. Around 20% of Ohio’s registered voters are Republican and 10% are Democrats. The vast majority are not affiliated with any political party.
Member station Ideastream Public Media’s Amy Eddings wanted to explore what’s on the minds of voters in Warren. She sat down for a slice of pizza with four voters – from different walks of life and different ends of the political spectrum – to see what’s driving them to the polls.
On how Warren voters reflect Ohio
“I think these Warren citizens share many concerns with Ohioans. Overall, they see the same people running for office in their local elections and they’d like to see some newcomers with fresh ideas. They want more economic development and are acutely aware of the effect that population loss has on the city’s resources.”
“The majority of Ohio's registered voters, around 70%, are unaffiliated [with a party]. And while my guests all have party affiliations, they all expressed a willingness to cross party lines to vote for the candidate that appeals to them the most.”
On the four voters’ political beliefs
“Individually, they exemplify what we’re seeing on the national stage. Julie Stout is a progressive Democrat who’s not voting for Kamala Harris because of the Israel-Hamas war. Marwan Alie is a first-generation Palestinian-American, but he doesn’t share Julie’s hard line on ending the war in Gaza. He’s a realtor who wants to see mortgage rates go down, and he thinks the housing market was better under Trump.”
“Paul Ringold is a Republican, an independent truck driver and a pastor who voted for Trump in 2016, but chose Biden in 2020 because of Trump’s divisive rhetoric. He’s willing to set those concerns aside and vote for Trump this year because he’s been really stung by high prices. My last voter, Riley DeCavitch, is registered Independent but leans Democratic. She’s really enthusiastic about Harris. She IS concerned about rhetoric, especially against minorities - she’s a transgender woman. She thinks Trump’s comments about minorities make them a target for people with bad intentions.”
On issues most important to them
“Well, it's all about the economy. Here's a snapshot of their financial stressors:”
PAUL RINGOLD: Fuel costs. My fill bill on average is $1,000 a week. Insurance costs have gone up. My insurance for this year just renewed in April. It was $1,600 and it was getting ready to renew for $2,200. And I told my wife, there's just no way in the world that I can afford this.
MARWAN ALIE: If interest rates are high, people won't buy, which means realtors can't sell. And then you're not bringing home a paycheck. So I got a lot of people on standby.
JULIE STOUT: My boyfriend, he used to make $17 an hour, lost his job. Now he's making $11 an hour. I'm not bringing anything in. Our refrigerator is not working. So we go around to churches to get groceries, asking for things that are non perishable. And so it's like this whole other economy.
RILEY DECAVITCH: After Covid, my fiance and I ended up getting kicked off of the government assisted insurance, so I had to go find another job that I could get insurance that paid more. Now I'm driving over 40 minutes every day to work when before I was 15 minutes away.
They all have different solutions. Paul and Marwan support tariffs. Riley suggests an investigation into price gouging. And Julie wants a communist revolution.”
On finding points of connection
“It’s really hard to relax and be authentic when you’ve got cameras and microphones pointed at you and you’re facing a journalist with a list of questions. But, despite those stressors, the feedback I got was that everyone thoroughly enjoyed meeting the others and thought the conversation was fun. But hearts and minds weren’t changed. I think everyone agreed to disagree.”
