Affordability remains among top issues on North Texas voters' minds
With the November midterm elections here, candidates are making their final push to reach voters. For months, CBS News Texas has been tracking polls and hearing directly from politicians about their platforms.
But polls and campaign speeches tell only part of the story. They don't fully capture who Texans are or why certain issues matter to them.
To find out, Ken Molestina and a CBS News Texas crew hit the road to hear directly from voters across the metroplex and get a sense of the Texas state of mind.
Leading up to the election, in countless conversations with voters across North Texas, there's one thing that came up repeatedly: affordability.
Polls show affordability is the top issue for most. In 2024, 45% of U.S. households said they did not earn enough to make ends meet. Nearly four in ten Americans say they worry daily about saving for retirement.
There are many different lenses to study affordability through. But perhaps one of the best ways to look at the rising cost of living is to look at the rising rate of hunger.
Hunger on the rise in Texas
On a Tuesday morning in Dallas, 30 minutes before a Catholic Charities food distribution event was set to start, cars had already started lining up at Northway Christian Church. The demand, Catholic Charities CEO David Woodyard said, is a sign of growing wealth disparity.
"I do think there's some interesting signs of the wealth spreading a little bit at the top, but it's certainly not getting down to the bottom," he said.
Woodyard said every week their distribution events, which happen several times a week at locations across North Texas cities, bring in a steady flow of first-timers.
"A lot of governmental money was put into the economy during the COVID era to try and help bridge the gap," Woodyard said. "All of those resources have dried up. So we've had an increase in need and a decrease in resources to serve that happening at the same time."
According to the North Texas Food Bank, Texas leads the nation in hunger for the third consecutive year, with over 6 million people who are food-insecure. In the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, 1.3 million people face hunger, and about one-third of those are children.
"When people come through for food, it's because they've got pressures everywhere," Woodyard said. "Maybe they could afford to go to the grocery store, but then they wouldn't have gas to get to work, or they wouldn't have medicine or prescriptions. So, they're making choices and they're trying to alleviate the burden somehow."
Voter Dolores Zarazua said health issues and rising costs have made making ends meet more difficult.
"Even with the grocery store," she said. "What I would get for a certain amount of money is a lot less than what I would get before," she said.
"We all have different situations," said another voter, Manuel Pecina. "I'm on disability, also Social Security. And I'm a lung transplant recipient. So that's really added to my handicap of finding a job."
Another voter, Robin Hilewitz, said recent price increases have forced her to attend the food distribution event for the first time:
"I've seen prices increase by double," Hilewitz said. "Especially these last few months. Gas prices. Food prices. Everything."
Another attendee, Adrena Rogers, called the event a "blessing for a lot of people."
"It's tough. Money is tight. Resources are limited," Rogers said. "Families are thinking of merging together in the same homes just so that they can save."
The voters receiving assistance that we spoke to said they hope lawmakers don't forget their promises to make life more affordable for Americans.
"Our nation, I think, is built on principles that recognize the value of every human, the capability of every human to contribute in small and large ways," said volunteer David Cooley. "One of the ways that we can do that is to ensure that the economy is structured to not let folks fall through the cracks."
This is the fifth installment in a series of stories exploring the Texas state of mind ahead of the midterm elections. Read previous parts here:
