Wisconsin voters speak to ABC News about the 2024 issues they care about most
MILWAUKEE -- Perched on barstools at a diner just outside the political pandemonium in downtown Milwaukee and the Republican National Convention, four Wisconsinites shared with ABC News what is driving them to vote this election.
For Julie Buckholt, a Democrat and retired teacher, it's health care.
"If Donald Trump gets it, he's going to eliminate the [Affordable Care Act]. So, that is my most concern right now is what's going to happen to health care," Buckholt said. "Health care is extremely important to myself and my family."
Buckholt said for her, it's a matter of life and death as she and her daughters suffer from a rare neuromuscular disease that she said requires infusions that cost $26,000 a week.
"If I did not have that health care, if I did not have the ACA and the components of the ACA … I would not be able to afford my intrusions," she said.
Seated next to Buckholt, as the group sipped on iced teas and sodas, was Republican voter Valori Schmidt, 68 and a retired teacher. She had six words when asked about her top issue: "Border, border, border. Border, border, border."
"We cannot sustain America on this massive influx of immigrants," she said. "And then they're everywhere that we don't know. I want -- I love the American dream. I love immigration coming in the correct door, the correct way."
Schmidt said she was concerned U.S. security is "compromised" over the situation at the border.
Gary Berns, a 69-year-old Democrat who worked in sales but also is now retired, said his biggest concern was democracy and Donald Trump's plan to expand a president's executive authority.
"Trump wants to consolidate power into one part of the government, and we have three. And without the three, there will be no compromise," he said. "There will be no balance of anything. You can't have one person with that much power. And that scares me. But he wants to take it.
"I mean, yes, we're going to argue, we're going to fight. But you need to have compromise," Berns said.
Charlene Abughrin, a 47-year-old Democrat-turned-Republican who says she has voted for Trump since 2016, said her top issues were inflation and crime.
"Wisconsin here still, the minimum wage is $7.25. There's many families that cannot keep up with the inflation, the cost of rent. the cost of food, and then you add crime on top of that. And so I just think it's a snowball effect with inflation. Is it causing more people to do crime because they can't get their basic resources?" Abughrin, who's Black, said.
Concerns about the cost of living
A Marquette University poll conducted in June found the economy is the top-rated issue for Wisconsin voters.
"I think everybody's concerned about the economy," said Berns. "Food prices are high, car prices are high. But I look at my retirement fund and it's double. I mean, that part's doing very well. I'm not an economist, but I have to believe the stock market is based on profits. So, businesses must be doing well."
"I think it's better for some but not for everybody," Berns said.
Seated next to him, Abughrin nodded her head in agreement -- despite being on the opposite side of the aisle, politically.
"Absolutely … It's better for some, not for everybody," she said. "Overall, America's doing good. But when you come down and look at the communities, the communities are still suffering."
Buckholt said she believed the economy is incrementally getting better.
"I do see food prices coming down, little by little it's coming down," she said. "I don't travel, so I don't know what that's like, so I don't fly but I've heard that those prices are coming down, gas prices are coming down. So I think we're doing better."
Schmidt, a Republican, said she had a different view as she expressed concern about the $35 trillion national debt.
"We need to address the economy," she said. "It's kind of like the superficial stuff is only superficial. If the bottom drops out, we're all in trouble."
