Cost-of-living crisis overwhelms voter priorities in midterm elections
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A recent Fox Business poll shows that six in ten voters identify the cost of living as their top economic concern, with inflation, high energy prices, and tariff-driven price hikes shaping perceptions before the midterm vote.
Voters heading to the polls in the midterm elections are putting the cost of living at the center of their concerns, according to a Fox Business survey conducted Oct. 9-12. Six in 10 respondents said the expense of everyday goods and services is their primary economic worry, and 74% rated the overall economy negatively. More than half expect conditions to worsen next year, while only 18% say their families are better off than two years ago.
The survey says inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, with the consumer price index showing a 3.7% year-over-year increase in September, driven largely by a 9.1% monthly rise in gasoline prices, which are 34.2% higher than a year earlier.
"You can look at overall household budgets and motor fuels are only a part of that, but it's the one thing that we know what we pay for down to the tenth of a penny, so it has an outsize influence on how people feel about the economy and whether things are affordable," said Ben Lieberman, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Lieberman linked higher fuel costs to the ongoing conflict in Iran, suggesting that without the war, gasoline prices – and thus public perception of affordability – would be lower. He also warned that past periods of high inflation create a new price baseline, making grocery costs feel elevated even if overall inflation has eased.
"People have to cut back on other things. I think you maybe saw a little bit of that last summer with people kind of downsizing their vacation plans, for example," Lieberman added.
Olivia Mitchell, an economics and public policy professor at the Wharton School, said affordability is a central theme of the midterms and poses a political challenge for Republicans who have campaigned on lowering prices. She noted that inflation, after falling to 2.3% in 2025 and 2.4% in January 2026, has risen again to 3.7%.
"The tariffs are definitely making much of what we consume much more expensive, and this is leading to consumer frustration, which is, in turn, I think, going to be reflected in the midterm elections," Mitchell said.
Mitchell emphasized that high mortgage rates, auto loans, credit-card balances and other debt burdens are blocking households from rebuilding savings or preparing for retirement, and urged policymakers to move beyond vague growth promises toward concrete steps that improve financial security for everyday Americans.