Democrats put economy and affordability at center of final campaign push

With a week left before Election Day and tens of millions of ballots already cast, both parties are closing on the economy and the cost of living. President Donald Trump made his fourth campaign-season visit to Texas, aiming to lift Attorney General Ken Paxton in a tight Senate contest against Democratic state Representative James Talarico. Trump predicted gasoline and diesel prices would fall quickly. PBS NewsHour reports that those prices are tied to his war in Iran, though a Mississippi voter said higher fuel costs were worth paying for a free world for grandchildren.

Talarico argued that corruption has driven an affordability crisis, blaming health care decisions and tax cuts for billionaires. In Ohio, gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton also campaigned on making the state affordable. New York Representative Mike Lawler, a vulnerable incumbent, answered with a call for smaller government and bipartisanship, while one voter in his district said rising property values made them open to another choice.

Vice President J. D. Vance campaigned in Michigan, where Republican Mike Rogers faces Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in one of about six races likely to settle Senate control. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →