Less than a month before the November 3 midterms, cracks are showing in Republican support in Ohio, and Democrats are increasingly optimistic they can break through. Near Cleveland, one of the most contested battlegrounds in the country, the race between Republican incumbent Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown has become a referendum on Donald Trump's second term.
Ohio has voted for Trump in every presidential election since 2016, with voters hoping he will end decades of decline across the upper Midwest and revive industrial manufacturing. Trump often claims he has sparked a manufacturing boom, but the picture is more complicated. Ohio has gained about 13,000 manufacturing jobs since Trump returned to office, and the US has added roughly 70,000 sector jobs from a low point at the end of 2025. Even so, the country has shed more than 21,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2025. Persistent inflation, which has raised the cost of groceries and fuel, adds to the strain on small manufacturers facing expensive tools and machinery.
Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster, warned that Trump's frequent request that voters consider him on the ballot would be "problematic" in Ohio. In Eastlake, Rob Hines has been unable to find work since his brass instrument factory, owned by Wall Street figure John Paulson, closed in January, laying off about 150 workers. "A lot of our people believed in Trump, believed in Vance," Hines said. "This administration was good at selling dreams."
Source: Financial Times Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing