ATHENS, Ohio — Rural voters nationwide backed President Trump in 2024 by a 40-point margin. But recent polling shows his approval rating among this group has cratered, and nowhere is that fracture more visible than in Ohio's countryside, where healthcare costs, tariffs and economic strain are reshaping the political map.
The U.S. Senate race pits Republican Sen. Jon Husted against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Both campaigns are pouring resources into rural Ohio, betting that voters who have sided with Republicans for years are vulnerable.
Matthew White of Athens summed up the mood bluntly: gas prices, diesel, tariffs and the war in Iran. "That's why people are unhappy," he said.
Larry Cowdery, a self-employed vegetable farmer from Long Bottom along the Ohio River, faces a sharper hit. His health insurance premiums are jumping significantly next year. Healthcare premiums on Ohio's Affordable Care Act marketplace are set to rise roughly 15 percent, driven partly by the expiration of federal subsidies.
Sen. Husted voted to eliminate those subsidies as part of Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill." The result: Ohio experienced the nation's largest drop in the number of insured individuals, tied only with Oklahoma.
Chris Gibbs, a cattle farmer in rural Ohio, has operated at a deficit for nearly three years. His struggle mirrors the squeeze facing agricultural producers across the state.
The political shifts are even visible in unlikely places. At the farmers market in Athens—a liberal college town home to Ohio University—Paige Walters, the market's promotions manager, observed something new this year: the Athens County Republican Party set up a table. "It's a presence not seen in some time," she said, noting how the move underscores a "pretty competitive" political climate.
Athens stands apart from most Appalachian communities in surrounding counties, which lean heavily conservative. But rural Ohio writ large is now a genuine battleground.
