Hundreds of supporters lined up outside Butler High School in Vandalia, Ohio, hours before President Donald Trump was due to speak Saturday. Ohio drivers now pay an average of $4.16 a gallon for gasoline, up 35% over the past year, according to AAA. Republicans are defending a competitive U.S. Senate seat in the state, and they’re counting on the president to rally their base.
The Republican National Committee said Trump was scheduled to speak at 7 p.m., at an event that began at 5:30 p.m. He was expected to appear with Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, whom officials appointed in 2025 to replace JD Vance. Husted faces former Sen. Sherrod Brown. Ohio voters will also choose a governor, with both elections one month away.
Prices, Layoffs and a Softening Job Market
Economic strain shadowed the rally. Inflation remained at 3.4%, and Friday’s jobs report showed unemployment rising to 4.2%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the United States added just 29,000 jobs in September, below expectations.
Ohio workers have felt the effects directly. In Middletown, Vance’s hometown, Packaging Corporation of America plans to lay off about 90 employees as part of a plant closure. A state filing says the company will let most of them go from the Baltimore Street plant on Dec. 1. “This was a difficult business decision,” company attorney Mark Romaniuk wrote in an Oct. 1 filing. “It is in no way a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our valued employees.”
Nearly 1,400 workers also lost their jobs at what had been the Navistar truck factory in southwestern Ohio. The Springfield layoffs nearly erased a year of job growth in the greater Dayton area, the Associated Press reported. Retaliatory Canadian tariffs tied to Trump’s trade policy affect about $3 billion worth of Ohio exports, based on 2025 figures, according to a CBC report.
Kyle Bos, a centrist and United Auto Workers member who had voted for Trump three times, told the AP he plans to vote for Democrats in November. “Something has to change politically in this country,” he said. “Seems like it just kept getting worse and worse and worse.”
Democrats Push Back, Republicans Defend
A couple dozen Democrats gathered in a small park a few miles from the school. The Ohio Democratic Party organized the event to criticize Republican policies tied to Husted and Trump, while supporting Kristina Knickerbocker, who is challenging Republican Rep. Mike Turner in the Dayton area. Signs read “Husted, we have a problem.” Chris Gibbs, a Shelby County farmer, said Husted had stayed silent while farmers struggled to afford basic necessities.
Montgomery County Democratic Chairwoman Jocelyn Rhynard said, “It’s amazing they think Trump’s low approval ratings will help Husted, but it’s fun to watch them try.” Trump’s approval in Ohio stood at about 35% in a Suffolk University/USA TODAY Ohio Network poll and 42% among registered voters in a Marist poll. Reuters reported that Trump won more than 55% of Ohio’s vote in the 2024 presidential election.
Husted told reporters he expects Iran to seek a peace deal and gas prices to fall after the Nov. 3 election. “I fully expect Iran is going to want to bring this to an end as soon as the midterms are over,” he said. He accused Democrats of talking about affordability without acting on it. Senate Democrats recently blocked his bill requiring states to consider making data centers pay for their power. Critics said the bill lacked enough consumer protections. Husted also cited Bayer’s plans for a manufacturing facility near Columbus. “There’s more work to do,” he said, adding, “We need to lower prices on groceries, gasoline − there’s no doubt about that.”
Brown’s statement was sharper. “Jon Husted voted 14 times for the reckless war in Iran that has caused the cost of gas and diesel to hit record highs,” he said. “Ohioans deserve a senator who will put them first, not one who sides with billionaires and corporations and makes them foot the bill.” Meanwhile, the GOP-controlled Ohio Legislature fast-tracked a 90-day suspension of the state gas tax.
Not every Republican wanted the spotlight. Eric Conroy, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman, said he’d skip the rally to attend his sister’s wedding. Trump endorsed Conroy, but Conroy hadn’t mentioned him in recent ads. Turner’s office didn’t respond to calls and an email asking whether he’d attend.
Why This Matters: Ohio’s Senate race is the country’s second-most-expensive, with outside groups spending tens of millions of dollars, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Voters at the center of the race face concrete pressures: higher fuel costs, tariff-exposed exports, rising unemployment and plant closures that hit entire communities at once. A 90-day gas tax pause offers temporary relief, but layoffs in Middletown and Springfield show how quickly workers can lose ground when companies make decisions far from their towns. Whether voters credit or blame Washington for those conditions will help decide which party controls a narrow congressional majority. The result will also shape how much weight public policy gives to consumers and workers.