The battleground state of Michigan is expected to play a pivotal role in the 2024 presidential election, with the economy a top issue for more than 40% in the Great Lakes State living paycheck to paycheck.

In Kent County, where voters elected former President Donald Trump in 2016 before swinging to President Joe Biden in 2020, businesses who spoke with Marketplace explained their reality on the ground, providing insight into the struggles that are expected to motivate voters in November.

Darious Howard, a supervisor at the Davisburg-based auto-parts manufacturer Corvac, told the financial news site some workers are typically furloughed each summer as the auto industry slows, but this year Covac laid off a third of its workforce, and they’re still waiting to come back.

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

“Just because of the automotive industry around this time, usually it’s only like a week but now it’s been a month,” he said.

Those types of layoffs are driving up demand at area food banks, where a growing proportion of folks coming in haven’t been there before. Nancy Cromley, executive director for the Green Apple food bank, in Grand Rapids told Marketplace demand has spiked 30%.

“So these are people that have – you know, they’re not living in the system, they’re not getting all kinds of other support, but they’re just finding that they don’t have enough money,” Cromley said.

Because food banks limit families to one visit per month, many are increasingly turning to discount stores to get by, opting for cheaper store brands over name brands and buying in bulk to save.

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

“They don’t really buy a lot of candy,” Nate Harkness, an assistant manager of an unnamed discount store in Kent County, said. “They’re just buying the staple things that they need – important stuff, along with your toilet articles.”

“We’re … seeing customers will to try larger sizes so that they can make their dollar stretch a bit further,” Kimberly Jones, director of sales and purchasing at Daily Deals in Wyoming, told Marketplace, adding that store-brand meats are up 25%. “Customers are willing to trade into different brands so they can get a value.”

While state Treasurer Rachel Eubanks insisted in May “the economy is strong and stable,” with indicators showing “individuals are spending, wage increases are outstripping inflation and inflation is stabilizing,” recent reports suggest about 200,000 more Michiganders are struggling to afford the basics than when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took office.

Between 2019 and 2022, the number of working Michigan residents who could not afford a basic “survival budget” jumped by 13%, despite the overall number of households increasing a mere 2%, according to a recent United for ALICE report.

In Whitmer’s Michigan, 41% of the state’s 4 million households in 2022 lived below the ALICE threshold, and that included more than half in 11 counties: Gogebic, Ontonagon, Houghton, Baraga, Alger, Luce, Oscoda, Iosco, Lake, Clare and Wayne.

That pain has only increased as the Whitmer administration and Democratic allies in the legislature have pumped billions into the electric vehicle industry, repealed right-to-work legislation, and spent billions on pet projects for lawmakers.

Whitmer created a Growing Michigan Together Council in an effort to improve the state’s economy and reverse projected population losses, and the council issued a report in December calling for a “bold, coordinated economic growth plan.”

While Whitmer hasn’t yet produced one, Republicans in Lansing offered a slate of solutions in April that have been ignored by the Democratic majority since.

“The governor doesn’t have an economic growth plan, so House Republicans are taking the lead with important policy reforms that should form the basis of Michigan’s strategy,” Republican House Leader Matt Hall said at the time. “By reforming unaccountable taxpayer-funded programs to ensure better results, restoring the income tax cut, removing burdensome red tape, and bringing back right-to-work, we can create a healthy economy where people can put down their roots and thrive.”

Michigan voters, of course, aren’t the only ones struggling with persistent inflation driving up the costs of everything, particularly housing and healthcare.

A poll of 8,229 swing state voters conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of The Telegraph July 31-Aug. 3 found “the economy remains the single most important issue for pluralities of voters in every swing state.”

“When voters are asked how important various issues will be in determining how they will vote in November, between 62% and 74% say the cost of living will be ‘extremely’ important, making it, by far, the most important issue,” according to the R&WS research team.