Metro Detroiters lay out the issues and candidates shaping their vote

The economy. Immigration. Reproductive rights.

These are just a few of the issues presidential candidates regularly raise while campaigning in the battleground state of Michigan.

But how are they playing with the state’s electorate?

Voters in the metro Detroit region mirror some of those same concerns. Yet some have other policies they’d like to see addressed — and a wide range of views on which a potential new occupant of the White House might be the best one to take those issues on.

The economy 

For Keith Rowe, housing is the name of his game. He works in the mortgage industry and finds his sales hinge on having what he calls a “healthy” economy.

“It’s been absolutely brutal compared to five or six years ago, putting mortgage loans out for people, homes being absolutely unaffordable,” Rowe said.

He blames government regulation.

“It tends to choke the life out of business with fees and unnecessary oversight and rules that really get in the way of the people that it was meant to protect,” Rowe said.

Voter Ricardo Copeland claims it’s not just the government regulations, it’s the political party in charge of making them.

“As soon as the Democrats got in office, that’s when everything shot up,” he said.

Selling items at a recent Trump rally in Warren, Copeland praised the Republican presidential nominees’ plan to cut corporate taxes.

“You don’t tax the rich, you give the rich tax breaks. That’s when everything comes down. You don’t tax the bakers, you don’t tax the farmers, you don’t tax General Motors. Because McDonald’s is not going to take the hit. They’re going to put it on their Happy Meal, they’re going to put that on the consumer. Give them tax breaks. They hire people.”

Detroit senior Ayanna Johnson is not worried about being hired. She says she lives off of Social Security. And she’s worried about losing it under a new Republican administration.

“Trump gets in office and he’s talking about taking it away. What are people going to do? Where they’re going to go? I’m a lot leery,” she said.

Johnson adds that, in her opinion, the former president should not even be in the current election conversation.

“I think those ‘powers that be’ have gotten scared of Trump. He should be in jail. He got convicted. He incited that riot on Jan. 6. That’s unheard of,” she said. “We have protests, we have issues. But nobody as long as I can remember has ever done something like that in the nation’s capitol.”

Back at the Trump rally in Warren, William Going recites the GOP candidate’s pledge to “Drill baby drill” for fossil fuels in the U.S.

Going attributes the high price of groceries in gas to the Biden administration’s push for more clean energy sources.

“I would love to see where we’re actually exporting oil instead of importing oil. That’s why gas was so cheap when Trump was president,” Going said. “And then shipping costs, that’s the gas price again. If gas goes up, shipping goes up. If shipping goes up, the cost of items goes up. If the cost of items goes up, the cost of labor goes up. It’s not rocket science.”

Small business

“It seems like the more I make, the less I’m getting,” said Delano Shorter, who owns a small cleaning business.

He says he’s not just dealing with high prices at the grocery store, he’s fighting to keep his company from going under.

“Inflation is out of control. Even after they say that it’s going down, it’s not. These prices for cleaning supplies go up more and more, every year. With it being more expensive, I have to charge my clients more because of the inflation of my products that I’ll have to use,” Shorter said.

But beautician Christina Brothern sees a silver lining for her salon business in the policies Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris promises to pursue.

“She’s about small businesses. She’s about people and not just organizations. She’s about your health. My daughter is pre-diabetic. Kamala’s about insulin, about helping the people that can’t afford it because it’s so expensive. She’s about helping the people, the minorities that don’t make that much money, actually live,” she said.

Immigration and war

Clarkston resident Anna Johnson originally came to Michigan from Mexico.

She says she applauds Trump’s vow to launch a massive deportation effort if he regains the White House.

“I came to this country legally. I follow the steps. I pay money to become a legal citizen,” Johnson said. “And when I see on the TV, literally, an open border, that just breaks my heart. It’s almost like a slap on the face to me. I have to follow the procedures, I have to fill out the forms, go through clearance to make sure that I was a good person, a safe person to be living in this country.”

Housing specialist Alex Alexander also has her eyes on what’s happening outside the U.S.

She says for her, it’s the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon swaying her vote.

And Alexander says she’s not happy with either the response by the U.S. to the situation or the pledges made along the presidential campaign trail.

“I was hoping to have some candidates that were a little bit more pro-Palestinian,” Alexander said. “In my opinion, Kamala Harris had a shining perfect storm opportunity to be in opposition to the war, or at least opposition to sending resources to Israel, right as she got the nomination. And she didn’t, which means that her interests lie elsewhere. I’m not a huge fan of that.”

At a gas station in Roseville, a man who gives his name only as Billy Bee says he’s equally unhappy.

But he’s concerned about protests over the Biden administration’s support for Israel, even though he says he has relatives that have been displaced because of the ongoing warfare.

“All these people protesting amounts to nothing at the end of the day,” he said. “I tell my own people from Lebanon that if you don’t like it, then leave (the U.S.) Bring me a Palestinian that can point out which life one of the protesters saved. There’s nothing.”

Detroiter Savannah Robbins disagrees.

She says her top issues are the conflict in Gaza and whether Donald Trump becomes the future architect of U.S. policy in the region.

“I fear Donald Trump being president again and what that would do to our democracy,” Robbins said. “Women’s right to choose abortion access, trans people’s right to health care, I’m worried about all of it. I feel like Donald Trump is intent on destroying democracy one step at a time, whether it’s him or it’s the masterminds behind Project 2025.”

The road to uncertainty

Along Detroit’s Woodward Avenue, Uber driver Dennis Custovic guides his car over several potholes.

He says his conversations with passengers convinced him there’s an especially rough road for one particular segment of the U.S. populace.

“My major issue right now is we have more poor people than ever. I talk to people all the time and we need to help the poor in any type of way, affordable housing, getting better pay, secure jobs. It’s kind of like a hit or miss,” he said.

Custovic’s hands tightened on his steering wheel just a bit as he considered which of the major party contenders for the White House might best address poverty.

“You’ve got a vice president mentioning the middle class, that she is from the middle class. So many promises, but nothing is happening under Biden. And she’s in the chair, she’s the vice president. She should be more aware of what can be done,” he said.

Custovic frowned as he navigated both the traffic and his choices for president.

“And then on the other side, you have Trump. He is a businessman but he’s a silly fellow. At the same time, I’m kind of scared of him. Why? Because he say things that don’t make no sense. In many occasions he’s attacking certain groups of people. So I don’t really know. You know, it’s tough. It’s tough.”