Nelson Vandermeer voted Republican for decades but balked at supporting President Donald Trump, fearing that the Republican's plan for tariffs on imports would hurt workers more than help.
asserted
plan → vote → workers
Last year, Vandermeer's premonition came true in a very personal way.
asserted
premonition → come → way
The 62-year-old lost his job as a product designer at Howard Miller, a clockmaker that relied on parts produced overseas.
asserted
that → lose → parts
After a century in business, the company in Zeeland, Michigan, closed its factory, sold off its inventory and brand name and laid off nearly 200 workers.
asserted
company → close → workers
“So much for bringing jobs back,” Vandermeer said.
asserted
Vandermeer → bring → jobs
Next month, he plans to vote straight Democrat in the midterms.
asserted
he → plan → midterms
As if an unpopular war with Iran and persistent inflation were not enough trouble for Republicans, they are confronting a backlash over the tariffs that Trump made a cornerstone of his economic agenda.
asserted
Trump → confront → agenda
He promised that charging higher taxes on imports would spur a factory renaissance in the United States, but that has not come to pass.
asserted
that → promise → States
Although the country has added manufacturing jobs so far this year, the sector has fewer employees than when Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.
asserted
Trump → add → January
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers insisted that a factory boom is underway, citing increases in manufacturing output and more work in certain nonresidential construction trades.
asserted
boom → insist → trades
“Factory construction jobs of today mean more manufacturing jobs down the road once those factories come online,” she said.
asserted
she → mean → road
Even before the tariffs, Howard Miller struggled as Americans lost their taste for fancy timepieces such as its signature grandfather and mantel clocks.
asserted
Americans → struggle → grandfather
So the company broadened its offerings years ago to include bar carts, cabinets and consoles.
asserted
company → broaden → carts
But those products also depended on glass and other parts from abroad, and diversification did not ensure survival.
asserted
diversification → depend → survival
“I could still have a job, but now I don’t because of tariffs,” Vandermeer said.
uncertain
Vandermeer → have → tariffs
“It was like taking a knife to the back.”
asserted
It → take → back
Job losses pile up in battleground states
Vandermeer lives in Michigan's 4th Congressional District, which is represented by Republican Bill Huizenga, who is running for a ninth term in the Nov. 3 election.
asserted
who → pile → election
Before Trump implemented his broadest set of tariffs last year, on what the president called “Liberation Day,” Huizenga was supportive.
asserted
Huizenga → implement → what
“Is it going to be easy?
asserted
it → go → ?
Is it the right thing to do?
asserted
it → do → ?
Absolutely it is,” he told reporters at the time.
asserted
he → tell → time
A spokesperson for Huizenga said last week that the congressman “sees a potential role for tariffs” for boosting domestic manufacturing "while recognizing the need to address their broader economic effects.”
asserted
congressman → say → effects
His Democratic opponent, state Sen. Sean McCann, has criticized the incumbent for opposing legislation that would rein in tariffs that Trump imposed unilaterally.
asserted
Trump → criticize → that
There are similar issues in competitive races in Kansas, Iowa and Ohio, where Republican acquiescence could hurt the party on Election Day as their constituents face factory layoffs, farm foreclosures and higher prices.
uncertain
constituents → be → layoffs
Tracy Chew, 55, voted for Trump in 2016, then for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 and Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024.
asserted
Chew → vote → 2024
She used to work for Case, a backhoe manufacturer, but the company announced before the tariffs that it would close its plant in Burlington, Iowa.
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it → use → Burlington
She lost her job in April, as did her daughter, followed by husband and son-in-law over the next few weeks.
asserted
daughter → lose → weeks
Chew is leaning toward voting for Democrats again this year, feeling that Trump let them down.
asserted
Trump → lean → them
“I’m furious he isn’t doing enough," she said.
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she → ’m → enough
“Tariffs are not targeting the right companies, the right amount."
asserted
Tariffs → target → companies
Layoffs in Iowa have piled up elsewhere.
asserted
Layoffs → pile → Iowa
Winnebago Industries, which produces recreational vehicles like campers, cut 200 jobs last year after the cost of importing aluminum, steel and electronics increased by tens of millions of dollars.
asserted
cost → produce → dollars
“It’s a day to day battle,” said Michael Happe, the company's chief executive.
asserted
Happe → ’ → day
In the tight race for an open U.S. Senate seat in Iowa, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson faces Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek.
asserted
Hinson → face → Turek
There is a close contest, too, in Kansas, where Democrat Adam Hamilton, the pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in the U.S., is trying to unseat Republican Roger Marshall.
asserted
Hamilton → be → Marshall
Cole Hoppock, chief executive of appliance maker Vornado Air in Wichita, Kansas, said Trump's tariffs “impacted virtually everything.”
asserted
tariffs → say → everything
The company known for its retro household fans laid off more than 70 factory workers in February, blaming higher prices for imported parts.
asserted
company → know → parts
Trump's trade policy could force cutbacks soon at another Kansas employer, Canadian jet manufacturer Bombardier.
uncertain
policy → force → employer
Trump has threatened to ban the company's sales in the U.S. if Bombardier does not start making all its planes in the U.S.
asserted
Bombardier → threaten → U.S.
Bombardier said it buys parts from 2,800 companies in 47 states, including in Kansas, where it employs more than 1,000 people
asserted
it → say → people
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
