MW Affordability is on the ballot today, as voters are under even more financial pressure than they were a year ago

Andrew Keshner and Genna Contino

Candidates in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia all emphasize their fixes for high costs of living

In three different elections on Tuesday, there's one recurring theme.

Yashmeen Sharma always wanted to move to New York City after watching countless episodes of "Gossip Girl" and "Sex and the City." In 2023, her dream became a reality when she moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to take on her first job after college.

The now-26-year-old working in climate tech loves her life in the city, but it hasn't been quite as glamorous as her favorite shows made it out to be. Her landlord hiked up her rent by $300 this month, and she often finds herself coughing up cash for Ubers $(UBER)$ she can't afford when the bus doesn't arrive on time.

"I just waited two hours for a bus the other day trying to get back from Queens," Sharma said. "I ended up spending $60 to get back home ... and I just can't afford to do that."

Sharma said she is voting for Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York, because she believes he'll be able to fix the affordability challenges she and many of her friends face - particularly, his plans to make buses fast and free, and to freeze rent prices on more than 2 million rent-stabilized units.

"I don't want to leave New York - it's my dream city. I have a job here, a life here and I want to continue building that out here," Sharma said. "I don't want to have to pack up at 26 and start all over again somewhere."

For Sharma and her fellow New Yorkers, affordability is on the ballot as they head to the polls Tuesday. The same goes for voters in New Jersey and Virginia, where gubernatorial campaigns have also tried to highlight fixes for the high cost of living.

One year after the economy and everyday costs were a core issue in an election that returned President Donald Trump to the White House, voter worries about high prices and personal finances are just as acute. By some measures, consumers are facing even stiffer prices and tougher financial headwinds than a year ago. For many households, debt is piling up, costs for essentials such as utilities and home insurance are mounting, and sentiment about the state of the economy is sliding.

The focus on financial pressures is the thread that stitches together three widely watched races on Tuesday. It shows in the polling, and in the issues the candidates have spotlighted.

In New York City, Mamdani has pledged free child care and city-owned grocery stores that would offer low prices for food. Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa have criticized Mamdani's plans as unrealistic, while also emphasizing their own ideas to cut costs for New Yorkers. Affordable housing and inflation have consistently ranked among the top concerns for Big Apple voters this election.

In New Jersey, Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill are dueling over who's best to tackle rising electric bills and tamp down local property taxes. Meanwhile, more than 8 in 10 New Jersey residents say the general cost of living, property taxes and utility rates is "very important" to them, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll.

Virginia's gubernatorial race between Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is also hitting at everyday costs at a time when federal job cuts and the government shutdown have stoked unease among Virginians, many of whom depend on the government for their livelihoods. The elimination of a long-running "car tax" has also become a campaign talking point.

"People are just insecure about where things are going economically, and the anxiety is driving much of the voting behavior right now," said Mark Rozell, dean of George Mason University's Schar School of Policy and Government.

In the university's polling with the Washington Post, the economy, living costs, jobs and housing have topped Virginia voters' worries. Pocketbook matters are a perennial Election Day issue, but the current context is turning up the volume in Virginia and elsewhere, Rozell said. "So much about state and local politics has become nationalized," he said.

Prices and affordability are the chief issue in New Jersey as well, said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. "New Jersey families are not always feeling the pinch as much as they are now," he said. "People are really feeling it right now - it's front of mind."

The elections come at a time when many Americans are trying to make sense of their wallets and their job security. While the stock market SPX keeps testing new highs, consumer mood has slumped, especially compared with a year ago.

As election officials count votes on Tuesday night, the federal government shutdown will break the record and become the longest-ever such standoff. It has slowed or halted the release of important economic data that tracks consumer well-being, but even without those government figures, it's still clear why affordability - or the lack of it - is a major campaign theme.

High rents, home prices and property taxes

Nearly half of adults cited the cost of housing as a major stressor, according to a summer survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Much of that stress is concentrated among adults under age 45, the poll noted.

This tension is exacerbated in New York City, where persistent high demand and dwindling supply has pushed rents higher. The median asking rent rose to a whopping $3,995 in September, a 7.2% increase from a year earlier, according to data from Zillow (Z).

Nationally, home prices reached an all-time high of $435,300 in June, according to the National Association of Realtors. In New Jersey, the typical home value jumped 3.2% year over year in September to about $564,000, Zillow data show, while Virginia home values rose 1.8% to roughly $405,000 over the same time period.

Property taxes are another housing woe for cash-strapped Americans. Property values have risen nearly 27% faster than inflation since 2020, according to the Tax Foundation, yielding dramatically higher taxes across the nation. The result has been a "property-tax revolt," experts say.

The issue is of particular concern to New Jersey voters, who have the second-highest effective property-tax rate in the U.S., behind Illinois. Ciattarelli wants to cap property taxes by linking them to a percentage of a home's assessed value; Sherrill supports consolidating New Jersey school districts to drive down property taxes.

Property taxes have been a Garden State election issue for decades, Rasmussen noted, but they've gained a new urgency this time. "The thing that makes things different this year is that it's not the only pressure point," he told MarketWatch. "[Voters] are feeling a lot of pressure points."

Job security in question

There are also growing concerns across the country about the job market. While there's been relatively little firing, there's also been little hiring and lots of "job hugging." The labor market's soft spots prompted the Federal Reserve to start cutting its benchmark interest rate in September, following that up with another cut last week.

Questions still loom for voters. One is whether layoffs at high-profile companies like Amazon (AMZN) and UPS $(UPS)$ signal more job cuts coming at other companies.

Meanwhile, the government shutdown has stretched 34 days, leaving 1.4 million federal employees - many of whom live in Virginia - furloughed or working without pay. The shutdown, as well as job cuts earlier this year for federal workers and contractors, have played into voter mood, George Mason's Rozell said.

Utility bills and grocery costs

Grocery bills are also squeezing Americans' budgets, with the cost of food at home rising 2.7% year over year in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' consumer-price index. While grocery prices are rising at a slower pace than overall prices, experts say food inflation stands out more to consumers because groceries are a necessity that they shop for regularly.

More than 7 in 10 consumers were concerned about their grocery costs, and nearly 8 in 10 worried about the price to buy meat, according to a Morning Consult survey released last month.

Mamdani's campaign has highlighted that 9 in 10 New Yorkers say the price of groceries is rising faster than their income. The Democratic nominee has a plan to open city-owned grocery stores that would buy and sell at wholesale prices, prioritizing low prices over profit.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey and Virginia, utility costs are a standout talking point.

New Jersey residents faced sticker shock from their utility bills rising 20% year over year this June. And with the possibility of electricity prices rising again next year, the gubernatorial candidates have pledged to lower costs.

Natural-gas and electricity bills will cost more this winter in the Northeast and nationally, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. There's been a "staggering" amount of household utility debt building in the past two years, NEADA said, with arrears climbing to $23 billion in June from $17.5 billion at the end of December.

Cars and gas

Car payments are adding even more stress to Americans' budgets - with the average cost of a new car soaring past $50,000 for the first time ever in September, and APRs on car loans remaining at or above 7% for the past three quarters.

As borrowers struggle to make ends meet, more are falling behind on their car payments, with car loans delinquent by at least 60 days rising 2.2% month over month in September, according to a Cox Automotive report.

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November 04, 2025 06:00 ET (11:00 GMT)

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