CANTON, Ohio — In Stark County, there’s only one thing on everyone’s mind this election: the economy.
Loading her groceries into her car, Linda Fuller said shopping hits harder these days.
"The economy sucks," said Fuller. "It's really, really bad for people that are on social security, that type of situation."
And when she gets to the polls, she is going to vote based on her wallet.
"I'm worried about the finances; financially — if people are gonna be able to pay their rent, buy food and even with the little help that you get from the government, it's really not that much, it's really not that much at all," she continued.
That is the exact concern of voter Joy Dodgen. We met in downtown Canton, the largest city in Stark County — an area that relies on manufacturing.
The U.S. Census reports the median household income was $40,000, which is $25,000 less than the state's median of $65,000. So, every dollar counts.
"Gas going up, food going up, everything going up," said Dodgen. "What else is next?"
She thinks former President Donald Trump will do a better job alleviating inflation than Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump’s main model is imposing higher tariffs on goods that come from outside the country. Economists from Goldman Sachs argue this could lead to the consumer paying more in stores.
Harris's main model is to require corporations, as well as the wealthiest Americans, to pay a higher tax. She also wants to crack down on grocery store price gouging, but she would need Congress to approve her plan, so it isn’t a done deal.
For voters like Kevin Rupert, they just want to see a change.
"I remember a few years ago I used to have thousands of dollars in the bank," said Rupert. "I'm living paycheck to paycheck sometimes because stuff comes up."
Rupert, Dodgen and Fuller are just three of the nearly 250,000 registered voters in Stark County.
Stark is known as a pivot county — voting for both Republicans and Democrats over the decades.
Stark voted for former President Barack Obama 49 - 48% in 2012, then for Trump 56 - 39% in 2016 and 58 - 40% in 2020.
Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown won 49 - 44% in 2012 but narrowly lost 49 - 50% in 2018.
In 2023, the county voted to protect abortion access 53 - 47%, a 6-point victory.
Ten percent of the voters are registered Democrats, 20% are Republicans and the remaining 70% aren’t affiliated with either party, like Rupert.
He says he may split his ticket, with Trump for president for sure, but some Democrats down the ballot.
"I'm mainly voting Republican," he said. "I'm not against or anti-Democratic or anything."
Fuller also isn’t registered with a side but didn’t tell us who she is voting for. But she wants a president who will spend the next four years working for the average American.
"They want to help the people in general, not just the rich part of life, but the middle class also and the people that can't help themselves," Fuller said.
And as she ended her trip to the grocery store, she hoped that voters would make the right choice.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
