Washington, D.C. – The skyrocketing price of gas, groceries, rent, and utilities is hammering the wallets of hardworking Americans. But nowhere is that pain felt more than Phoenix, Arizona, right in Mark Kelly’s backyard. In the Phoenix metropolitan area, the cost of everyday goods is up 10.9% in the last year, compared to the 7.9% nationwide average.
Phoenix-area residents and business owners are sounding off in a new Wall Street Journal report about how this highest-in-the-nation inflation is hurting them:
- Working Mom of Two: “There must be some reason for why it’s happening with this administration and not the last one. We are giving out money like it’s growing on trees.”
- A Local Restaurant has raised the price of its cheeseburger to $19, “up four dollars over the past two years.”
- “Prestige Cleaners says the price of metal clothes hangers it uses is up 42% from a year ago, a cost it passes on to consumers.”
- Scottsdale Interior Designer: “I blame the Biden administration [for inflation]. There is no other way to look at it […] People don’t want to work.”
- Retired IT Professional: “We do want to buy a new car at some point, but now the prices have just gone through the roof and it’s just not prudent to buy right now.”
- Young Couple with Two Children: “The couple would like to have a third child but worry about the cost of daycare and the larger house they might need.”
This real-world pain is registering at the polls, too, putting Mark Kelly’s rented Senate seat on the line come November. According to a recent OH Predictive Insight poll, Kelly is trailing a Republican challenger – 37% to 39% – on a generic Senate ballot. The news is even worse for Kelly among suburban voters like the ones interviewed by the Journal. With suburban voters, Kelly is down 7 points against a Republican challenger.
As costs continue to skyrocket in Arizona, it is no surprise that Mark Kelly’s poll numbers continue to go down. Nationally, inflation is the leading issue for voters in the upcoming midterm elections, and inflation is also a top concern for Latino voters.
Statement from NRSC Spokeswoman Katharine Cooksey: “In Phoenix and across Arizona, the cost of everyday goods is out of this world, and voters know an astronaut isn’t going to be the one to bring costs back down to earth. Mark Kelly’s blanket support for Joe Biden’s reckless, inflation-inducing agenda has caused this inflation, and it will cause him to lose his seat this November.”
###