James Morton isn’t sure which party he’s going to support in November’s elections, and he doesn’t like his options.
Morton, a 67-year-old retired truck driver in Colorado, said Democrats have “gone too far to the left towards socialism,” while Republicans are “globalists” who “don’t care about the working-class people in this country.”
Morton, an independent who voted for Donald Trump in 2024, is leaning toward backing third-party candidates in races for the House and the Senate this year. But he said his decision will come down to the high cost of living.
“The No. 1 thing is getting the cost of things back down, inflation under control, and pretty much that’s it,” Morton said. He noted that he and his wife have been buying different groceries as they navigate high prices.
Morton is among the 5% of voters surveyed last month in a national NBC News poll who said they weren’t sure which party they wanted to see controlling Congress after this year’s elections. NBC News spoke with 16 of those undecided voters as they weigh their votes this fall, some of whom declined to share their full names discussing politics.
These voters feel little loyalty to either party — and many of them said that’s in part because they aren’t sure either party understands what’s important to them. Almost every one said high costs are top of mind.
In the NBC News poll, 50% of voters said they wanted Democrats to win control of Congress in the midterms, while 45% said they wanted Republicans to have control. How the undecided voters in between resolve their strong, sometimes conflicting feelings could ultimately decide what Congress looks like in 2027, from who controls the majority to how many seats that party holds.
Costs dominate
Voters’ focus on making ends meet has been standing out in recent polling. In the latest NBC News survey, voters ranked cost of living and inflation as the most important issues facing the country, followed by government corruption and threats to democracy.
“I don’t like how expensive things are, and I don’t think anyone does,” said Aidan Valenzuela, a 19-year-old security worker in Texas, who said he hasn’t decided whom to support in his state’s hotly contested races for governor and the Senate.
Joanne, a 72-year-old Vermont independent who works for a heating company, said she plans to sit out her state’s governor’s race, and she hasn’t decided whom she’ll support farther down the ballot.
“I just want somebody to bring some of these prices back down,” she said. Joanne said her husband relies on multiple medications, including insulin. “It’s pretty expensive and leaves nothing for anything else.”
Luke Melanson, 49, of Louisiana, who is retired from construction work, said the rising cost of groceries has changed how he shops.
“I’m not eating as much. I’m eating less food because I can only afford so much,” he said.
Melanson doesn’t identify with either political party, instead considering himself a libertarian, and he declined to say where he was leaning in the midterm election. But he is frustrated with both parties and wants to see new candidates emerge who can personally relate to his financial position.
“I want a plumber. I want someone that ran a smaller business, like a Kroger’s,” he said. “A teacher. I take anybody that isn’t a lawyer or someone so ultra-rich that the pay gap is so far they would never understand what I’m going through.”
Meanwhile, South Carolinian Darien Thompson, a 25-year-old unarmed security guard at a mall, sees gas as the biggest financial woe of the moment. The cost of his commute is only going up.
“It does take a mental load when it’s like, well, it’s going to cost this much to get to work and back, and I’m only making this much,” Thompson said.
It doesn’t bode well for his long-term hopes of owning a home, and he doesn’t see any current politicians stepping up to tackle the issues in a way that has earned his support.
“Politicians are getting into these petty squabbles,” he said. “But it’s, like, none of us can afford houses.”
Thompson doesn’t see himself voting for a Republican in November, but he’s still undecided. He has leaned Democratic before, voting for then-Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, but his vote this year will depend entirely on the specific candidate Democrats run in his area.
Ibraham, a 42-year-old truck driver in Ohio who isn’t registered with either party, said he plans to back Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown in the Senate race in his state. Ibraham supported Harris in 2024 and said his vote this year is driven almost entirely by the surging price of diesel and a higher cost of living.
“I’ve been driving for nine years. I’ve never seen anything like it. Never. Never, ever. Even during Covid, it didn’t get that high,” Ibraham said, noting that his weekly diesel costs have jumped from $2,000 to $3,500 or $3,700.
“I’m spending an extra $1,500 on diesel every week. Just think about it — it’s a fortune,” he said.
Down on both parties and Trump
Ibraham described his support for Brown as more about opposing Republicans than endorsing Democrats, blaming the GOP-controlled White House and Congress for the current economic struggles.
“It’s not about Brown,” Ibraham said of his Senate vote. “It’s just voting against the Republicans for what they’re doing. That’s it.”
Other voters who were undecided but leaning toward Democrats expressed similar views, expressing caution and saying their potential support for Democrats was motivated more by reining in Trump and Republicans.
FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane
FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts
Several voters — including those who backed Trump two years ago — specifically voiced concerns about Trump’s handling of the economy and the war in Iran.
FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane
FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts
“I will probably support [a] Democrat this time around just so there’s some check and balances in place,” said Aaron L., a 30-year-old California independent who works in tech. He didn’t vote in 2024 while he was moving, but he said he most likely would have voted for Trump. But nearly two years into Trump’s second term, Aaron said, the economy is “a mess.”
“It seems like the party, the Republican Party, just follow whatever Donald Trump says,” Aaron said.
Like other undecided voters, Aaron said the economy and the war in Iran were among his top issues. Dissatisfaction with the war was high, including among Trump voters.
“One of his platforms was no more useless wars, and here we are — we’re back,” said Kevin, a 35-year-old civil engineer in Massachusetts. Kevin, a Democrat, voted for Trump in 2024 hoping he would boost the economy.
This year, he said, he is leaning toward supporting Republican Mike Minogue in the Massachusetts governor’s race, hoping he could shake up the state, and leaning toward backing Democratic Sen. Ed Markey for re-election.
“It goes back to the checks and balances,” Kevin said of the possibility that he could split his ticket, saying he wants to see a Democratic-controlled Congress end the war in Iran.
Kaleb Saracino, 21, of Nevada, doesn’t like how many resources are being poured into the Iran war or the idea that the U.S. is fighting there in behalf of Israel. He said he wants the government to cut off support for Israel, bring down costs and refocus on issues affecting everyday Americans.
“The cost of groceries, the cost of gas, the cost of living have all gone up because of these endless wars,” Saracino said.
Saracino knows he doesn’t want to support Trump, so he’s leaning toward the Democrats this year. But he doesn’t have warm feelings for either party.
“They’re looking out for themselves, their careers, because they’re career politicians, not so much the betterment of the American people,” Saracino said about both Republicans and Democrats.
Alexis, a 20-year-old college student in Florida, also expressed frustration with both parties in Washington.
“They’ve made a bunch of promises that haven’t been fulfilled, and you know why? It’s because people cannot talk to each other these days. Congress is so divided,” she said.
Alexis, an independent who voted for Harris in 2024, isn’t sure whom she’ll support in the Florida Senate race. She said more could get done “when we start allowing younger candidates who are more open-minded to vouching for the American people as a whole, rather than their own specific party.”
Essen Zali, a 46-year-old IT consultant from Texas, voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but backed Trump in 2024 after he became frustrated with Biden during the conflict in Gaza. Now, the Iran war has again left him frustrated.
“He went two steps forward with the whole war thing, and now we are all over the place,” he said. On top of that, Zali said, Trump seems focused on the wrong things.
“All the construction work that was going on in Washington, that was not ever required. All the beautifications and everything, that’s secondary. The tariff war without a reason,” Zali said. “It seems like he is burning all the ships.”
Connor Woodring, a 22-year-old independent from Colorado, also supported Trump in 2024. He was another voter who felt disdain for both parties.
“They’re one on the same side of the same coin, basically. Republicans are the warmongering side of it. Democrats are the side that try to pull at your heartstrings,” he said. “Either way, they’re going to vote and do the same thing they’ve done for the last 50 years, so it doesn’t matter which side you vote in.”
Woodring is a registered independent and doesn’t like any candidates in his area. His preference is to vote for someone not in either major party.
But, he said, “there’s a lot that can happen between now and November.”
