OpenCampaign

Inflation

Cost of living and affordability

Affordability—spanning inflation perceptions, tariffs, energy prices, housing, and everyday costs—is repeatedly identified as the defining voter issue for 2026. Alabama residents face the same national pressures, and state and federal policy choices on spending, regulation, and trade are being judged through this lens before the midterms.

Which approach should Alabama leaders take to ease cost-of-living pressures?

How OpenCampaign quiz-takers stand on this issue

No quiz question covers this exact issue — showing responses to the closest one, Business and Consumers.

28% call it a high-priority issue (rating it 7+ out of 10).

  1. Liberal5%
  2. Lean liberal22%
  3. Moderate30%
  4. Lean conservative28%
  5. Conservative15%

Where do you stand?

Which approach should Alabama leaders take to ease cost-of-living pressures?

How important is this to you?

Sources

Quorum — https://www.quorum.us/blog/2026-policy-trends
Affordability is the defining issue. Healthcare costs, tariff-driven price increases, housing shortages, and energy prices all feed into the same voter anxiety.
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research — https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/policy-brief/us-economy-2026-what-watch
Affordability will continue to be a top concern for consumers leading up to the November midterm elections.
Ed O'Keefe, CBS News — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsdBO83yv1Q
have a really poor perception of the economy. It's why you've seen the president spend so much time this year blaming the Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell and former President Biden for economic policies
Positions on this issue  ·  liberal → conservative
  1. Use price controls, expanded benefits, and strong regulation to directly cut household costs
  2. Combine targeted aid with public investment in housing, energy, and healthcare to ease prices
  3. Balance modest relief measures with fiscal restraint and monitoring of inflation data
  4. Cut taxes and regulations, emphasize energy production and tariffs only when clearly beneficial
  5. Slash government spending and reverse tariffs/subsidies so markets alone set lower prices