When Warren area residents Marwan Alie, Riley DeCavitch, Paul Ringold and Julie Stout first met ahead of the general election, the group bonded over a civil political conversation and pizza at the Sunrise Inn.
But when most of the group, whose politics span from communism to right-wing conservatism, was reunited a month after November’s election results, the mood had shifted, highlighting an increasingly divided electorate.
It was a snowy day in Downtown Cleveland, and Stout, a 49-year-old who is currently unemployed, and Ringold, a truck driver and pastor at Shalom Church of God in Christ Black, piled into Ideastream’s studio with Morning Edition Host Amy Eddings to debrief election results. DeCavitch, a 27-year-old transgender woman working at a cabinet factory, called in due to hazardous driving conditions. Ali, a 41-year-old realtor, did not attend.
Concerns over tariffs, the economy intensify
Throughout their first meeting, much of the quartet’s conversation focused on the economy.
Affordability and cost of living were top of mind for voters in November, a poll of Northeast Ohioans found, with 64% of voters saying they were worried about the economy. More than half of respondents polled said the economy — more than every other possible topic combined — would be the most likely issue to shape their presidential vote.
That’s where President-elect Donald Trump, who will return to the White House in January after winning every swing state in the fall election, appeared to find success in his messaging for swing voters like Ringold.
Ringold, a Republican who voted for Joe Biden in 2020, once again cast his ballot in favor of Trump in 2024.
Ringold does not take a salary from his church and relies on income from his job as an independent truck driver. He said he did better financially when Trump was in office, and he would stomach Trump’s policies and inflammatory rhetoric if it meant a strong economy.
“I would say he cares about himself first, yes. I think America is second,” Ringold said. “But he's the right guy for the job at this time, economy-wise.”
DeCavitch pointed out that Trump’s economic policy has the potential to do the opposite of what he’s promised his base.
“I think if Trump gets to do everything he is saying he wants to do, I believe we are going to hit a recession,” DeCavitch said.
In what he says is an effort to bring manufacturing back to America and towns like Warren, Trump has vowed to impose stiff tariffs on the United States’ key trading partners, including Canada and Mexico, which economists say could launch a trade war and push rising costs back on American consumers.
“A company like mine: we use cardboard boxes, Styrofoam, tape, glues, any adhesives, drill bits… We say our cabinets are made in America, but the things that make the cabinets are not,” DeCavitch said. “Our machines that we run aren't even made in America.”
She said those costs will compound and negatively impact not only American manufacturers but consumers who many economists say would likely absorb rising costs.
In a recent interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump defended tariffs generally, saying they are “going to make us rich" but said he cannot guarantee his tariffs won’t raise costs for American consumers.
“I know you say, 'Well, the tariffs will bring a depression or a recession.' But we've already lived through that, too,” Ringold said. “You know, [2008] was one, and I don't think it had anything to do with tariffs.”
When Eddings pressed Ringold about the “anger” he expressed over the economy before the election and his post-election flip to a more sanguine attitude, he said he was prepared to withstand the fallout if Trump achieves his agenda.
“I'm just saying there's going to be ups and downs, and so I'm prepared for whatever that is,” he said. “I hope that we can get what he says done.”
Where did the Democrats go wrong?
Though he voted for Trump, Ringold said he was surprised Trump won — and by how much.
“As the results began to come in, it was just like, 'Wow, this was a blowout.' And this was a very clear message sent from America,” Ringold said.
Trump won 312 electoral college votes to Harris’ 226. Republicans gained control of the U.S. Senate and held a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Trump has said the results delivered an “unprecedented mandate” to him and Republicans.
But panelists split down ideological lines on whether the election represents a mandate for Republicans.
“He's feeling very empowered and feeling himself right now,” said Ringold, a Republican.
But Stout, who holds leftist political views, disagreed.
“A large number of Americans that don't vote at all, they didn't vote for him,” she said. “Not only the people who voted for Harris, but the people who didn't vote, they did not give Trump a mandate.”
Although Trump won the Electoral College and the popular vote, he did not win a majority of votes cast. Trump won 49.9% of the popular vote: the highest percentage in his three presidential runs. Harris received 48.4%.
In 2020, Joe Biden secured more than 51% of the popular vote over Trump’s less than 47%. In 2016, Trump received less than 46% of the vote.
More than 153 million people cast ballots in this year’s race, nearly approaching the historic 158 million in the 2020 election, which saw the highest turnout since women were given the right to vote more than a century ago.
So how did the Democrats fall short?
Julie Stout, who said her politics most closely align with communism, said the Democrats failed to unite the left.
“The Democratic Party wouldn't have to do a lot to capture my vote, but they have been telling me to take a long walk off a short pier for quite some time now,” she said. “I was a Democrat. I supported Bernie Sanders. But the Democrats don't want me… Kamala Harris didn’t even campaign in Ohio… They’ve written us off.”
Trump won Ohio's 17 Electoral College votes by more than 11 percentage points.
Stout did not cast a ballot for any presidential candidate. She said she did not support Harris because of the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
“The number one thing with Democrats right now is they don't have unity,” said DeCavitch, who self-identifies as an independent but tends to vote Democrat. She cast her ballot in favor of Harris. “A strength that Republicans seem to consistently have is unity within their party. They stand up on their issues, and they preach their issues loud. If abortion comes up, they're preaching loud about those issues.”
Ringold said he didn’t believe the Republicans were a more unified party but rather Democrats' messaging failed.
“You can come together, but if you're not going to say anything, you're still going to lose,” he said. “What was the key message? That Democracy is up for a vote, and they were trying to get immigrants to vote or pushing immigration fear tactics. And that was it… That's what they thought was going to win? The vote was, 'Democracy is at stake and Project 2025 is going to be the insurance that it happens,' and it backfired.”
Project 2025 is a right-wing policy blueprint that would overhaul the federal government spearheaded by the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation and other like-minded groups. Trump has said he has nothing to do with it, however, he has tapped several of its authors for key positions in his upcoming administration.
Ringold said the Democrats also lost support among minorities like himself. In 2020, 65% of Latino voters supported Biden over Trump, compared to 51% who backed Harris in 2024, according to exit polls conducted by NBC News and CNN. The support among Black voters remained relatively the same, dropping from about 87% or 86%.
“To my surprise, I had some Black men in my church; after the election came up to me and said, ‘Pastor, I voted for Donald Trump,’” Ringold said. “I was actually shocked.”
In the two most recent election cycles, about 77% of Black men voted for the Democratic candidate.
When asked about the Black women in his congregation, Ringold replied: “They haven't said anything, to be honest with you.”
About 92% of Black women supported Harris, according to exit polls.
Identity politics create tension, reflect a divided electorate
The cultural issues that so deeply divided the country during the election were also on display during the roundtable, particularly regarding transgender rights.
DeCavitch and her partner are both transgender women. She criticized some Republicans’ rhetoric and national and statewide legislative promises and actions as “transphobic.”
In Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine recently signed off on a law that will require any student, employee or visitor on private or public education campuses to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender assigned at birth.
“I couldn't turn on the radio without hearing somebody saying that [Sherrod Brown] was for trans bathrooms or trans women allowed in bathrooms or trans youth allowed in sports,” DeCavitch said, referring to attack ads by supporters of Republican Bernie Moreno, a car salesman who defeated the longtime incumbent Democratic senator in November. “Everybody uses the bathroom. There's nothing scary about anybody going into the bathroom… And it's such a fake issue.”
Stout, whose daughter is a transgender woman studying at Ohio University said the Republicans were successful in turning out the “bigot” vote.
Ringold, who previously told Ideastream he regretted voting for Biden in 2020 because of his support of transgender rights, particularly for minors, pushed back.
“We're not just talking about bathroom rights,” he said. “You've got the gender-affirming care for children. And I think when you start talking about children, minors, that's where you going to get some pushback. I mean, I don't support any of it, but Riley is a grown adult. But if you start coming after minors, you're going to hear me up close and personal, because I don't feel that that's something that we should be pushing toward young people.”
The conversation quickly became heated. Stout called Ringold’s argument about children being targeted a “fantasy land.” DeCavitch said no one is targeting children.
The back-and-forth was demonstrative of the split electorate in a seemingly increasingly divided America where many struggle to discuss difficult topics. A 2019 Pew Research Center study found that 85% of Americans say political debate in the U.S. has become less respectful, fact-based and substantive.
Despite the deep divisions, the roundtable participants said they enjoyed the experience of discussing the issues, the results and their expectations for the next four years.
“We weren't really coming in to try to change anybody's mind on the panel, because we... already made our minds up,” DeCavitch said. "It was just a full discussion about what happened and what we think will happen."
Ringold agreed hashing out difficult issues is enjoyable and productive.
“We need to come back for midterm,” he said.
