Is Ohio Purple Again?

Until 2016, Ohio was the quintessential swing state. By 2024, it was among the country’s reddest, with President Trump winning here by a bigger margin than Harris did in New Jersey or Minnesota, and almost the same as she did in New York.

Reporting from Ohio over the last week, though, I’d say that the tides are shifting.

Self-identified conservatives, of whom I’ve met many, still support the president. Almost all I’ve spoken to have said things are better than if a Democrat were in office. One pointed to curbs on illegal immigration; another celebrated Trump’s tariffs and limits on political correctness. But even they had complaints, including about prices, the war in Iran, and data centers.

Speaking to, I’d guess, 100 people around the state, I’ve met no one who is happy with energy prices or inflation. Not one person has defended the war with Iran, or even articulated a reason for why it’s happening.

Reporting from Ohio in November 2024, the week after Trump’s election, people were extremely optimistic that change was coming, particularly in an ever-more-expensive economy. Two years later, forget it. Even conservatives are voicing concerns about the economy, and everybody else – the majority – says things are pretty bad. They point to fuel and grocery prices, war, and concerns about data centers (which are going up all over the place here).

The stakes are high: Ohio has both a gubernatorial and Senate election this November. In the governor’s race, polls show Republican Vivek Ramaswamy neck-and-neck with his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. Polls also show Democrat Sherrod Brown leading incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted. In the House, an abuse scandal has put Republicans at risk of losing a should-win seat.

I take polls with a massive grain of salt, and given how red Ohio got two years ago, I still wouldn’t expect it to flip blue. If it does, though, I wouldn’t be shocked.

–Max Frost

Over the weekend, the White House turned up the economic pressure on both Canada and Iran.

On Saturday, President Trump escalated tariffs with Canada after the two sides failed to reach a new deal. He announced that the US would impose 50% tariffs on $20B of Canada’s exports. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney responded that they would match the US “dollar for dollar” in the trade war and would release specifics on Tuesday.

In response to Carney, President Trump announced on Monday the US would levy 50% tariffs on all Canadian automobiles. He posted on Truth Social, “On January First, 2027, Tariffs on all Cars, Trucks, both large and small, Automotive Parts, and Steel, will be increased to 50%.” Later he posted, “Someone should get these clowns to ‘fall in line’ or, the consequences for Canada will be far WORSE!”

Also on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced “Operation Economic Outcast” against Iran. The goal of the campaign is “economic asphyxiation” of the Iranian regime. The methods of this asphyxiation encompass the strangling of all of Iran’s “secondary” economic activity. Bessent said it identified more than 60 entities across the world that help the regime earn revenue from oil, secure nuclear and missile technology, and execute cyber operations; all will face sanctions.

President Trump described the new sanctions as “economic D-Day” for Iran. Whether this D-Day is victorious for the US remains to be seen.

–Max Towey

Authorities restored power over the weekend to many Indiana residents who had been in the dark for nearly two weeks, though 10,000+ remain without power.

On August 11, a series of severe storms tore through northwest Indiana, with winds topping 100 mph in some areas and knocking out power for around 375,000 people. Many residents were left without refrigeration, air conditioning, running water, medical equipment, and other essentials. Seven people died in connection with the storms and ensuing flooding.

Politicians and residents have blasted Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO)’s response, accusing the utility of moving too slowly to restore power. As of Friday – nearly two weeks after the storms – more than 40,000 customers remained without electricity, including over 20,000 of Gary’s ~65,000 residents. NIPSCO accelerated restoration efforts over the weekend, though 10,000+ customers remain without power.

Indiana Governor Mike Braun (R) called the response “unacceptable” and called for an investigation into NIPSCO, questioning whether the utility had adequately maintained vegetation and properly used state funds earmarked for infrastructure and reliability improvements. His comments follow a proposed class action lawsuit against NIPSCO alleging improper tree trimming.

NIPSCO defended its response, noting that the storms caused nearly 10x as many outages as its previous four major storms combined and that crews were rebuilding large sections of the electrical system rather than making individual repairs. The storm caused the largest outage in the utility’s history.

–Billy Carney

The Roca Mag

Walking through downtown Kansas City, the Chiefs are inescapable. The murals and homages to Patrick Mahomes and the back-to-back Super Bowl runs concentrate the block between Grand Blvd. and Main St., culminating in a two-story cluster of restaurants facing a performance space with a massive TV for Chiefs gamedays.

It’s San Francisco’s Pier 39 of America’s Heartland, but all for sports teams and their corporate sponsors, whose advertisements hang from the walkways above the screen.

But 13 miles away, Lakeside Speedway is fading into obscurity. The dirt track, within Kansas City limits, is part of a racing culture stuck in the county fair aesthetic. It feels more like a memory than a thriving sport, despite dirt racing being the largest and most participated-in form of auto racing in America. Sitting in the stands, it’s hard to believe that more than 600 tracks are still operating across the country.

At first glance, it’s far more old timers than youth. Even the race car drivers were aging. One told us, “I’ve got a lot of friends that finally quit. They just got tired. I have to work that hard to pay for it.”

Like most at the track, that driver, Dustin Walker, has a second job. Several drivers told us it’s now impossible to be a full-timer on the dirt track. Despite decking his car out with local sponsors and getting maintenance help from his oldest daughter, Walker says rising costs are making the self-sustained life of a race car driver nearly impossible.

“Somebody somewhere is making a whole bunch of money, and it isn’t the racers on the track,” Walker said.

While dirt racing goes by the “day at the ballpark” model that the MLB has traditionally relied on (tickets, pit passes, concession sales), it missed the mark on what has allowed mainstream sports to build massive, inflation-proof enterprises.

Competitions did not expand beyond a regional scope, which led to a lack of national advertisers. Organizers also did not pursue national TV rights. Dirt racing sustains itself through family-owned tracks, local sponsors, and local TV.

Add in rising land values and cars that, unlike NASCAR, don’t look like those you or I would want to own, and you’ve got an insular, domestic pastime boxed out of the modern financial playbook.