Voters speak out in key swing district that could determine control of House: ‘Kicked’ to the ‘curb’

TOLEDO – Several Republican volunteers in one of Ohio’s most critical swing districts spoke out about what issues matter most to them and why they believe that former President Trump will continue his recent success in the swing state.

“What really gets me motivated is sitting around hearing all this stuff that’s going on with our country, with the economy, with inflation being real bad, with our wages being eroded like 20% last four years,” Charlie Pengov, a lifelong Toledo resident volunteering for GOP House candidate Derek Merrin told Fox News Digital. “So instead, I’ve been taught that if you have anxiety about this, these kind of things, get involved and do something.”

Although Ohio’s long history of being a swing state has been eroded recently after former President Trump won the state by 8 points in 2020 and is expected to do even better in 2024, the race between Merrin and incumbent Democrat Marcy Kaptur in Toledo takes place in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, which is considered a key swing district.

“Biggest thing I hear from like family members is the economy, that’s number one,” Pengov said. “Inflation has just kind of stolen anyone’s savings that they’ve had or even, you know, sometimes it’s even hard to buy groceries from week to week for some people. You know, that’s just really the biggest issue.”

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“For sure the economy,” Kelly, a Merrin volunteer who was born and raised in Toledo before moving to Arizona to escape “Democrat policies”, told Fox News Digital. 

“Things like groceries, grocery prices, gas prices, housing, everything has gone up so much in the past few years and it’s just really becoming unaffordable for everyone.”

Kaptur, who is serving her 21st term in Congress, is one of eight Democrats running in 2024 in a district that voted for Trump in 2020 and many believe that this is her most vulnerable election yet after redistricting incorporated more Republican territory. 

Kelly told Fox News Digital she has “talked to a lot more people that are voting for Trump and they’re voting Republican than are voting Democrat.”

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Pengov told Fox News Digital that voters are frustrated that Washington is “giving all this money to Ukraine” when needs in the United States are going unaddressed.

“But then when it comes to having money for like our cities and Springfield, you know, it seems like we just use up our citizens and kick them to the curb and hire other people to come in for lower wages,” Pengov said. “It just doesn’t seem right what we’re doing to our American citizens.”

Toledo resident Patsy Grant also told Fox News Digital that the economy and immigration are at top of mind for voters in her district.

“The economy is not affordable and this immigration thing and people are dying, Grant said. “It’s really bad and actually, the seniors are really having a hard time right now. And I have seen it first hand with my mom and my mom is struggling with medicine. It is unaffordable. At this point, she takes diabetes medications and it is outrageous and it’s on the family if they can’t afford it. So then it puts a burden on somebody else’s financials.”

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