HAZEL PARK, Mich. — Ashley Polansky, a 34-year-old retail manager, hurried inside a polling place at a tiny church to vote on Tuesday morning with one issue foremost in her mind.
“I’m three months pregnant,” she said. “If something goes wrong, the doctors could just let me die.”
To Ms. Polansky, re-electing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — a Democrat who has campaigned heavily on defending the precarious right to an abortion in Michigan — feels like a literal matter of life or death for her and other women. They fear that complications from a pregnancies could make their health more vulnerable if abortion is banned in the state.
The voters of Hazel Park, an Oakland County suburb outside of Detroit, expressed their existential motivations as Election Day progressed.
Both Republicans and Democrats say that Michigan’s life is burdened by worry. Hazel Park is a small town with bungalows lined with chain-link fences. The concerns are numerous: maintaining democratic elections, maintaining autonomy over one’s bodies and health, and providing food for their families.
Economic issues were the dominant theme for many Republican voters.
“I just wish that things would get better,” said Bruce Roach, 44, who works construction for a cable company. “We need to get the party that’s in power out.”
Like many residents of politically diverse suburban Detroits, Mr. Roach has switched between parties. He voted twice for President Obama, then voted in 2016 for President Trump.
He expressed appreciation for the stimulus checks he received as President Biden. However, he stated that he has been struggling to make ends meets since inflation has increased the cost of everything. His children cannot drive to Tennessee to visit their grandparents because gas prices are too high. At the grocery store, Mr. Roach used to be able to afford the premium Boar’s Head brand, but now feeds his family prepackaged meat that he calls “nitrate-filled processed yuck.”
Many people have seen their investments plummet this year due to the fall in the stock market, which they blame on President Biden.
“I’ve lost $72,000 since Joe Biden became president,” said Robert Thomas, 62, a retired machinist, who arrived at a polling place on his bicycle, a practice he relies on to save money.
Elizabeth Van Stee, 35 years old, is a creative director. She said she voted Democratic due to the fact that abortion rights were a major motivator. While she has not suffered economically — she has a good job, makes decent money and has owned a house in town since 2019 — she knows her situation is not the norm.
“Life is hard for a lot of people in this area,” Ms. Van Stee said. “My neighbors bring up economic issues all the time. It’s a lot of, ‘Can you believe how much cereal costs?’”
On Tuesday afternoon, Ferndale’s voters poured out of a modern library that was located across the street from a Mexican restaurant. Gordon Novak, 61 years old, a retired entrepreneur, suggested that the pandemic may still be to blame for the insurmountable issues in this election.
“We’re still dealing with the adjustment after the pandemic,” Mr. Novak said. “The shortages of stuff, supply chains being backed up. Everything feels out of whack.”
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