Farmers and Workers Press Candidates on Prices

On Oct. 18, 2026, a Kansas cattle farmer who supported Trump told CBS political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns he was considering voting for Democrat Adam Hamilton for the first time, citing the administration’s decision to allow beef imports. Huey-Burns said diesel costs mattered to Kansas farmers, while the farmer linked federal policy to the prices cattle producers face.

Candidates from both parties discussed prices, jobs, pensions, health care and housing on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” Their remarks came as the midterm campaign approached the Nov. 3 election and voters in several competitive Senate and gubernatorial races weighed economic concerns.

Prices, Producers and Workers

Representative Ashley Hinson, the R-Iowa senatorial candidate, said, “We need to lower gas prices in this country. We need to lower diesel prices, but I don’t think we need to be making a deal with Russia to do it.” Mike Rogers, the R-Michigan senatorial candidate, said, “Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war now.”

Caitlin Huey-Burns said Republican sources were concerned that Trump was “underwater on the economy,” citing tariffs and the Iran war’s effects on diesel and gas prices. Anthony Salvanto said voters financially strained by prices favored Democrat Talarico in a CBS Texas poll, where Talarico and Republican Paxton stood at 51-49. Salvanto said Republicans hit hard by inflation might stay home rather than vote for Democrats.

North Dakota Republican Senator Kevin Cramer criticized Trump’s decision to import foreign beef without tariffs. Cramer said the policy threatened U.S. food production, discouraged North Dakota ranchers and would hurt cattle market prices. He doubted Argentine beef would lower grocery prices and said ranchers faced higher input costs. Cramer also said about a third or more of U.S. meatpacking belonged to Chinese and Brazilian interests.

In Ohio, Republican Congressman Mike Turner said jobs had doubled “both inside and outside the fence” at his local base and that the VA had created senior housing. Turner said he’d worked on paychecks and pensions for more than a decade. He said Trump had committed to sign legislation restoring Delphi salaried pensions, which Turner said the Obama administration took away. Brennan noted that the legislation hadn’t yet passed. Turner said restoration would affect more than 5,000 people in his community.

Campaign Promises and Public Services

Florida Democratic Senate nominee and state Rep. Angie Nixon said more than 4,000 people attended her rallies the previous day, including in deep-red counties, and her campaign raised more than $2 million more than her opponent in the past quarter. Nixon said she joined the Democratic Socialists of America in June and supported access to quality health care, fully funded public schools and housing.

Brennan said Nixon’s platform called for Medicare for all, a national rent-stabilization standard, a higher federal minimum wage, abolishing ICE and a 5 percent annual wealth tax on billionaires. Nixon said she’d work across the aisle with anyone who put working people first. She said her opponent, Ashley Moody, voted to end health care for more than 440,000 Floridians, raising private insurance premiums.

Nixon accused Moody of enriching herself by $2 million through stock trading and of having access to insider information through health care committees. Moody denied wrongdoing. Nixon said she wanted the Department of Justice to investigate nearly $10 million she said someone took from Medicaid funds intended for sick children; Brennan said Moody denied wrongdoing. Nixon also cited her work to raise Florida’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Nixon said she’d told MS NOW in September that the national Democratic Party could do more to support her campaign. “Folks are a little gun-shy because Vice President Harris lost as a black woman, and so people are very hesitant in terms of funding black women in the South,” she said. Nixon said Leader Schumer and Senator Gillibrand had agreed to host fundraisers, and her campaign had received more than 300,000 contributions averaging about $31.

State Power and the Election Map

Brennan cited a Fox poll in which six in 10 respondents were extremely concerned about government corruption and an AP poll in which six in 10 adults believed Trump was illegally profiting from the presidency or doing something unethical. The Columbus Dispatch said it couldn’t endorse the Republican Senate candidate because of the “abject failure” of Republicans in Congress to stop visible corruption and abuse of power by the Trump administration, describing Republicans as “almost entirely spineless.” Turner replied that the paper wasn’t his local paper and said voters considered individual candidates rather than a team or slate.

Salvanto described Ohio and Alaska as toss-ups, Iowa as leaning Republican but competitive, Kansas as a state to watch, and Michigan and Maine as toss-ups Democrats would need to hold. He said CBS estimates gave Democrats an edge to take the House and that they needed four seats to take the Senate. He also said Democratic voters were more likely than Republicans to say they’d definitely vote.

In Kansas, Huey-Burns said no Democrat had won a Senate race since 1932. She said Republican incumbent Roger Marshall wasn’t necessarily benefiting from voters’ support for Trump, while the cattle farmer’s account put the administration’s beef-import decision at issue. Hamilton described himself as a former Republican and wasn’t campaigning on the national party brand, Huey-Burns said.

In Texas, Salvanto said early voting would begin the next day. He reported that 59 percent of likely voters said Ken Paxton didn’t have the right personal character to serve as senator, while 45 percent said the same of Talarico. Ed O’Keefe said Trump planned further stops in Texas, Georgia and Michigan to encourage turnout. The broadcast also reported that threatening envelopes containing suspicious substances had been sent to 36 lawmakers and election officials; federal law enforcement was investigating and hadn’t identified who might be responsible.