As the United States hurtles towards a presidential election this November between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, AFP has been taking the temperature in key counties of seven battleground states.
We asked voters in Erie County, Pennsylvania what matters most to them when casting their ballot. We also asked about their greatest fears for the country.
Here is what some of those voters said:
B&B owner Steve Freysz
Steve Freysz, 57, and his wife Lisa own and operate Spencer House, a bed and breakfast in the city of Erie. As a registered Republican, he voted for Trump in 2016 and, after overcoming some doubts, again in 2020.
He is undecided this year, but has contemplated voting for Harris, or even writing in another candidate by name.
“As a business owner, the economy is a huge factor that impacts me,” Freysz told AFP. “My big concern with Joe Biden was whether he was capable of leading the country for another four years.
“I feel more confident with Kamala in terms of her capacity to do so, but I don’t know enough about her yet. I’m just looking to see who has the best ideas to move the economy forward and improve it to a better place.”
Freysz said his biggest fear is the “division” he sees all over the United States, and says the anger he sees in Trump led him to vote for former UN ambassador Nikki Haley in the Republican primary.
“While I’ll vote for Republicans down ticket, I don’t think I can vote for Trump at the top of the ticket,” he said.
Bar owner Melissa Lunger
Melissa Lunger, 58, is the proprietor of Shakers, a bar in the town of Corry. She is not currently registered to vote but is thinking about casting a ballot this time. She says the country is “going the wrong way,” and she has lost hope.
“What I’m looking for is somebody who could stand up, take back our country, and help the people,” Lunger told AFP.
“We seem to be helping a lot of other people and our people here seem to be cast aside. This time around, if I registered, which I might, I would go for Trump.
“We need somebody in there that has the gumption, has the strength to stand up and say, ‘I don’t like where America is going, I want to fix it, this is what we can do and we’re going to do it’.”
Business owner Don McCain
Don McCain, 76, runs Perry Mill Supply Co in the city of Erie, a business that has been in his family for more than 100 years.
He was brought up as a Republican, but fears the MAGA (“Make America Great Again”) movement that Trump has created. He now volunteers for the Democratic Party.
“There are still Republicans that I could vote for, but I vote almost exclusively Democrat now because of the MAGA movement in both state and local politics. I could never vote for Trump,” McCain told AFP.
