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CNBC traveled the country ahead of the 2026 midterm elections to examine the issues that matter to voters. Here in Michigan, people are being squeezed by high gas prices. On average in this state, they are approaching $5 per gallon. Trump's tariffs are having an excessive impact, and Canadian tourism has dropped by 25% Polls show a close race between Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman, and progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a physician who headed the Detroit and county health departments. The voters we spoke with made it clear that they do not believe that the current government is working for them.
Our retirees live on a fixed income. They are facing rising fuel prices. They are facing rising taxes. All of this affects them, even though they are no longer working. Most of the issues that concern us are simply a well-paid job. Do you have health insurance? Did you manage to buy a house and pay for it? Early voting is already underway in the state where Trump won 2 years ago, but far-left candidates are showing unexpected strength.
I'm in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where 54 % of renters spend more than 30% of their income on rent, and home prices have increased by 4% in a year. Housing affordability is a top issue for voters ages 18 to 34, according to a CNBC "All America" poll. 33-year-old Jessica Geller is a young wife who rents a place from a friend at a discounted price. To take out a mortgage now for someone like me-where would you get that kind of money? In Allentown, even the most neglected homes still sell for $400,000. It seems we can't buy a starter home and invest in it. This district is contested between incumbent Republican Ryan McKenzie and Democrat Bob Brooks. McKenzie touts his support for affordable housing tax breaks passed in the
2025 budget bill. Brooks is pushing for more starter homes and a crackdown on corporate landlords and rent inflating. I'm up north in Portland, Maine, a state that has proven more vulnerable than almost any other in the trade war between the U.S. and Canada. And the state's iconic lobster industry has been hit particularly hard by the president's tariffs. Although lobsters themselves were removed from the sanctions list at the last minute, lobstermen we spoke to here say that everything else they use every day is becoming more expensive. Bait, diesel fuel, ropes, and especially lobster traps. People can only pay a certain amount for a lobster roll. I wish they paid a lot more, but I know what the reality is. So, if
a tariff is introduced, we will pay for it. I don't care if they say Canada pays. The price on the table won't change much from this. Tariffs have now become a key issue in the unpredictable Senate race between incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins and her Democratic opponent Troy Jackson. Collins criticized the tariffs and pressured the Trump administration to obtain key exemptions for certain goods for Maine. But Jackson says that despite all her experience in Washington, Collins should have done more. However, Collins supporters I speak with here say the pain of Trump's tariffs has not shaken their support for her
candidacy. She was like a guardian angel for the lobster industry for many years. I can't oppose her just because she's in the same party as someone I don't like. I report on voters in South Texas-a historic Democratic stronghold that has shifted to the right in the 2024 presidential election. But now some voters say Trump's immigration policies have gone too far. Daniel Lopez owns 19 restaurants in Webb County. Lopez told me that employees are coming to work less often, and his establishments are seeing fewer visitors. They are afraid to spend money because they feel they are being deported and persecuted based on their origin. After all, all these people have jobs,
pay rent, and stimulate our economy. Lopez is registered as a voter in Texas' 28th congressional district. The House race between incumbent Democrat Henry Cuellar and his Republican opponent, Judge Tano Tijerina, is one of three primary races in South Texas that could determine whether Republicans retain control of the House in November. I am located in Oregon, Ohio. Now, a national wave of protests against data centers is growing, including in local communities like this one, where a 500-megawatt facility is planned to be built in a wide field behind me, dividing the community. Many people are now opposing it
, claiming that the project is too large-scale and they are unsure of its long-term benefits. Most of these jobs will be filled by people who don't actually live in Oregon. They will take their money, go back to their communities and spend it there. On the other hand, people say it will bring much-needed tax revenue to local schools, fire departments and police departments. This will bring a huge financial benefit to our community. That would be about 15 million a year, divided between schools and the city, which could be used for road repairs, police, fire departments, and construction of needed facilities.
This is just one example of what is happening on the national stage. Here in Ohio, a state where both Senate and House seats are being contested, all the candidates have more or less agreed that decisions about data centers should be made by the local community. As socialism and economic populism gain momentum ahead of November's congressional elections, CNBC traveled here to North Dakota to find out why the nation's only state-owned bank with socialist roots is thriving in the heart of Trump territory. We've heard from people across the state that it's a bit of a socialist idea, but they say it works.
We are a predominantly red state, aren't we? And we are left with the only state-owned bank in the country. Yes. And that's a pretty socialist idea, right? In a general context, and yet it works. Progressive candidates have been proposing the creation of state-owned banks for years. And we see states like Massachusetts and Washington- typically blue states-considering following North Dakota, where Donald Trump won by double digits in the last election, in creating such a bank. But we also have the funds and resources to support this idea, which not all states have.
Yes, this is a very, very unique situation.
