Affordability top of mind for voters in final sprint to midterms: ‘I have to pick between medicine or groceries’

Protesters march during the Affordable Energy Now campaign direct action rally on 13 October 2026 in College Park, Maryland. Photograph: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Progressive MarylandView image in fullscreenProtesters march during the Affordable Energy Now campaign direct action rally on 13 October 2026 in College Park, Maryland. Photograph: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Progressive MarylandUS midterm elections 2026Affordability top of mind for voters in final sprint to midterms: ‘I have to pick between medicine or groceries’Cost of living has loomed over this election cycle as workers and unions champion candidates fighting for higher wages and tackling rising prices

For millions of Americans heading to the polls on Tuesday, affordability is a constant and worsening issue, and it’s been a prevailing concern this election cycle.

In Lorain county, Ohio, Gina Jones and her co-workers at the Lorain county job and family services have been on strike since February 2026, the longest public sector strike in Ohio history and on pace to break the US record for longest public sector strike.

Ohio voted for Donald Trump in 2024 by more than 5%. As the final day of voting nears, Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown has a slight lead on Republican Senate incumbent Jon Husted in polling, and the economy has been a key factor in the fight.

“They don’t pay a living wage any more. They used to,” Jones said. “Our healthcare coverage has stayed the same, but the cost of it has changed significantly. It used to be $35 a month for a family. In January it’s going to be $600 a month for a family for the same coverage.”

She said as wages have lagged, with starting pay at about $15 an hour, health insurance costs have eaten up any wage gains to the extent that some employees are making less than when they started.

View image in fullscreenNonpartisan political signs in Granville, Ohio, on 22 October 2026. Photograph: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty ImagesNegotiations for a new union contract broke down with the county, now led by three Republican commissioners, as workers are pushing for a $1 an hour increase to their base pay.

Daniel Petticord, the deputy director of the Lorain county jobs and family services, said in an email “management believes it recognizes the important efforts of our bargaining unit employees while maintaining fiscal responsibility,” and blamed the union for walking away from negotiations.

“We service the clients of Lorain county that are the poorest of the community, and some of the people that work at jobs and family services qualify for those same services,” Jones said. “We’re hoping that with the Ohio governor election, that we get somebody in there who will be in favor of labor and see the fact that people don’t make a living wage in Lorain county any more.”

In Minnesota, Bob Mattila, a special education paraprofessional in Minneapolis and SEIU Local 284 member, is looking for elected officials who will back state legislation that would increase pay for himself and his co-workers to $25 an hour and to lower their costs for health insurance.

“We simply aren’t paid enough to do the vitally important work that we do,” Mattila said. “I even take state health insurance because they decided I don’t make enough money.

“Money, power and respect. Those three things are critical to what we need out of our work and what we deserve from our elected officials,” he added. “Having very labor-friendly people in places of power is going to give workers like me things that we need to live, because we’re at a point where I can’t afford to put $50 of gas every time when I fill up my car when I’m not even making $25 an hour.”