PORTLAND - The Hill reported that rising cost of living and dissatisfaction with President Trump are the top concern for nearly half of voters heading into Tuesday's midterm elections, according to a new survey. In a report on the survey by Finya Swai, The Hill cited a Reuters/Ipsos poll released late Monday, which found that 48 percent of registered voters ranked the cost of living as the most important factor in deciding their vote. The available excerpt ends before describing the rest of the poll's findings.
The Guardian published a separate account of how individual voters explained their choices. Its report, by Robert Tait in Portland, Maine, Joseph Gedeon in Dearborn, Michigan, and a third contributor, centers on Todd Cox, 63, a technology professional in Maine. According to The Guardian's reporting on Maine voters, Cox had supported the state's incumbent Republican senator, Susan Collins, twice in previous elections, but on Tuesday he cast his vote for Collins's Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson.
The Guardian's excerpt includes the line “It’s the disregard for the rule of law. It just seems like they’re thumbing their nose at it” but does not name the speaker in the portion available. The excerpt also cuts off mid-sentence while describing what drove Cox's decision, so his full reasons cannot be confirmed from the text available.
The two reports measure different things. The Hill's figures come from a national poll of registered voters, while The Guardian's report features individual voters explaining their ballots in their own words. The excerpts do not show how the poll's results compare with the views described in The Guardian's reporting. Both sources name cost of living or affordability among the concerns, and both refer to frustration with or dissatisfaction with Trump, but the available text does not establish how widely the views described in The Guardian's report are shared. Both reports were published on Tuesday, the day of the midterm elections.
Sources: The Hill: Rising cost of living tops voters’ concerns as midterm ballots cast; The Guardian: US voters share why they cast their ballots - from frustration with Trump to affordability concerns.