In Battleground Georgia, Voters Demand Solutions to Inflation, Key Issues

Jon Domanick, a 49-year-old math teacher at a public high school in Savannah, Georgia, describes himself as a “truly independent” voter, as he doesn’t follow party lines when voting.

“I registered as independent. I voted Democrat in the past,” he told The Epoch Times.

This year, however, he leans toward former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee—a notable shift from 2020 when he wrote in Tulsi Gabbard, former Democrat congresswoman, as his preferred candidate.

Yet Domanick remains cautious. Before casting his vote this year, he wants to hear Trump’s plan for tackling inflation, which he believes is a key issue for many Americans.

Neither candidate, according to him, has provided a concrete plan on how they will achieve their campaign promises.

“They say what they’re going to do. They don’t say how they’re going to do it,” he said.

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“I think the No. 1 thing I would need to hear from Trump is gas prices. That’s where we got to start.”

“Drill, baby, drill,” Domanick said, referencing a 2008 Republican campaign slogan frequently echoed by Trump in recent years.

Lower gas prices, according to the math teacher, would lower transportation costs and, ultimately, reduce prices on store shelves.

Domanick worries that the country is headed in the wrong direction, especially when he thinks about the future of his two high school-aged daughters.

“Just think about college education. What I’m going to have to pay for them is going to be six figures in some cases, if I want them to go to a decent school,” he said.

“I’m a math teacher, so I know all about compound interest,” he said, noting his concern about predatory student loans.

He is not opposed to student loan forgiveness. However, he believes the government shouldn’t be selective in forgiving student debt based on political motivations. There needs to be a stronger and fair plan for families burdened by large school loans, he said.

His 77-year-old mother, Linda Domanick, supports Trump and believes that the current state of the economy and her strong support for Israel are key factors influencing her decision to vote for the former president.

“There’s so much wrong going on,” she said. “As a senior citizen living on disability, it’s becoming next to impossible to live. I’m going to put my house up for sale.”

The Epoch Times visited cities in South Georgia to gauge voter sentiment, understand what influences their decisions, and what they hope to hear from candidates in the next 60 days.

Harris, Trump Court Georgia Voters

In 2020, candidate Joe Biden narrowly won in Georgia, flipping the state Trump won in 2016.

With just about 60 days remaining until the election, both the Trump and Harris campaigns are ramping up their outreach efforts to connect with voters in the Peach State.

Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, took a two-day bus tour, visiting rural communities and suburbs in South Georgia to rally support in the state.

The Harris–Walz campaign is courting black voters in hopes of repeating the large turnout that flipped the state in 2020.

Harris wrapped up her tour with a solo campaign speech in Savannah on Aug. 29, encouraging thousands of supporters to work hard until election day.

A week earlier, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), held a rally in Valdosta, a town in southern Georgia located about 15 miles north of the Florida state line.

Teacher Switches Careers for Better Pay

Rosie Gibbons, a 27-year-old former first-grade educator from Sunbury, Georgia, is a strong Harris supporter and plans to vote for her. She believes Harris is capable and has the right background to lead the country, particularly in addressing critical issues such as inflation, protecting democracy, and gun violence.

Gibbons recently made a career change from teaching to becoming a life insurance agent. After five years of being an educator, she found it financially unsustainable and left due to the lack of respect and the overwhelming demands of the job.

“I left teaching because it just wasn’t working for me anymore,” she said. “I couldn’t sustain myself independently as a single woman, as a public-school educator.”

Gibbons wishes to hear more about Harris’s stance on education policy.

“There are so many systemic issues within the public school system, and I would love for those to be addressed, even though I’m not in that anymore,” she said.

Gibbons believes current trends are putting educators in the crossfire between policymakers and parents.

“I’ve had parents ask me to make sure their child is using the bathroom correctly. That’s not my job. That’s not what I do. That’s not what I had signed up for,” she said, referring to parents’ concerns about gender identity issues and policies in schools.

She said that teachers are expected to take on many roles in the classroom, including acting as mediators between parents and children, as well as serving as mentors, psychologists, and counselors to their students and parents.

“You have to work overtime because you’re with the students for 90 percent of the workday,” she said, noting that teachers also need time to plan lessons.

Gibbons said she didn’t feel safe as an educator because of shooting incidents in schools around the country.

“We would have to have intruder drills where all the children hide in the corner of the room with the lights off. And how do you explain that to a 6-year-old?” she said.

Autumn Boyd, an 18-year-old student from Valdosta, is one of them, but she will not cast a vote in the upcoming election.

Like many Gen-Zers, politics doesn’t interest her.

“I don’t pay attention. I prefer not to because I don’t want to get wrapped up,” she said.

Boyd is also worried about being bullied for her voting choice. She says that if she votes for one candidate, she‘ll face criticism; if she votes for the other, she’ll face the same.

“I just rather not vote,” she said.

She believes there is a huge political divide in the country and dislikes the misinformation spread by both campaigns.

If Boyd ultimately decides to cast her ballot on Nov. 5, she said she would “probably vote for Trump” because she knows “more about him” than Harris.

“Whoever wins, I just hope that we don’t get killed. That’s my biggest fear,” she said. “I don’t want war with another country.”

Other eligible Gen Z voters are not enthusiastic about voting.

Both presidential candidates are leveraging social media and influencers to win over Gen Z voters.

Voters Weigh Key Election Issues

Rory Gallagher, a 40-year-old FedEx employee from Valdosta, is considering voting in the upcoming election but has not yet decided on a candidate. His voting decision will be influenced by his concerns about the climate and crime.

Gallagher, who voted Democrat in 2016 and 2020, is currently leaning toward Harris but says he knows little about her work as vice president. He believes the more she can get out and interact with voters, the better.

He notes that neither Harris nor Trump’s campaigns are active in his area. However, he sees negative ads every time he opens YouTube.

“There are always those negative ad campaigns. That’s all you ever see,” Gallagher said.

Robert Whalen, a 71-year-old retiree from Ludowici, Georgia, is concerned about taxes if Harris wins.

“If she wins, we’re done,” he said. “Our taxes are going to go up again.”

Whalen, a lifelong Republican, said he will vote for Trump in 2024, as he has in previous years.

His main concerns are inflation, wars, and border security. He believes that Harris has not effectively addressed any of these issues during her tenure as vice president, whereas he is confident that Trump would tackle them from day one.

Rising living costs are a particular worry for Whalen and his wife, Loisann Morey. The couple feels that Trump should prioritize the inflation problem, urging him first to bring down the gas prices.

“I know he will,” Whalen said.

He believes the Biden administration’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline in January 2021 contributed to the spike in gas prices across the country. He recalls that gas prices were below $2 per gallon in Georgia during the Trump administration, but they more than doubled shortly after Biden took office.

‘We Need That Change’

Lorene Mies, a 77-year-old retired public defender from Orange County, California, has lived in Savannah for the past 11 years. She attended Harris’s rally in Savannah and remembers Harris from her days as a district attorney in San Francisco.

“The nice thing about Kamala is that she knows how to communicate on everyone’s level. You know, she doesn’t talk down to people,” Mies said.

She believes the United States is ready for a woman president.

“It’s time. We need that change.”

While she acknowledges the importance of the economy, Mies emphasizes that women’s rights, health care, and what she calls the imbalance in the Supreme Court are equally critical issues.

Amber Ealy, 44, another rallygoer, shares the sentiment. She believes the right to abortion is the most critical issue.

“I have a 4-year-old daughter, and it is absolutely ridiculous that she has fewer rights than I do,” she said, referencing the 2022 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision.

Ealy anticipates the Harris campaign becoming much more active in Georgia. She notes that Chatham County, where Savannah is located, has traditionally been a Democrat stronghold.

She hopes to see a shift from red to blue in neighboring counties across South Georgia.

“Georgia will be blue,” she said.