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Household costs are a recurring concern among the 16 people NBC News interviewed about being unsure which party should control Congress, but that concern does not lead them to one shared choice. Some lean toward a major party, others judge candidates race by race, consider third-party options, weigh checks on President Trump, or plan to skip a particular contest. The interviews offer a close-up of varied decisions—not a representative portrait of every undecided voter.
What the poll and the 16 interviews show
NBC News reported that 5% of respondents to a recent poll were unsure which party they wanted to control Congress. The poll figures reported in the article were 50% favoring Democratic control and 45% favoring Republican control. Those percentages describe the poll, not the 16 people interviewed for the story; the interviewees were drawn from the unsure group, and their answers are not a separate statistical estimate.
The article moves among congressional and gubernatorial races, and uncertainty can apply to one contest without applying to every choice on a person’s ballot. The 16 interviews are best read as individual accounts of how people are thinking, rather than as evidence of how all undecided voters will vote.
Why household costs loom large
Many interviewees describe inflation and the cost of living through everyday expenses: food, fuel, commuting, medication, and housing. Their accounts show what those pressures mean to them, but do not independently establish national price trends or prove that a particular policy caused a household’s costs.
Food, fuel, and getting by
James Morton, a 67-year-old retired truck driver in Colorado, said, “The No. 1 thing is getting the cost of things back down, inflation under control, and pretty much that’s it.” Aidan Valenzuela, a 19-year-old security worker in Texas, put it more briefly: “I don’t like how expensive things are, and I don’t think anyone does.”
Joanne, a 72-year-old Vermont independent, said, “I just want somebody to bring some of these prices back down.” Luke Melanson, a retired construction worker in Louisiana, described the impact on his own meals: “I’m not eating as much. I’m eating less food because I can only afford so much.”
Rank #2
Ibraham, an Ohio truck driver, said his weekly diesel costs had risen from $2,000 to $3,500 or $3,700. That is his account of his own expenses, not an independently verified fuel-price statistic.
Housing affordability
Housing also appears in the interviews. Darien Thompson, a South Carolina security guard, said: “But it’s, like, none of us can afford houses.” The line conveys his view of affordability; it is not a measured estimate of homeownership costs or housing access.
How frustration becomes different voting choices
Discontent with both parties does not produce one uniform response in the interviews. Some people lean toward one party, while others put more weight on a particular candidate or race. Some consider third-party candidates, some contemplate splitting their tickets, and at least one plans to sit out a specific contest. These are different choices, not interchangeable signs of indecision.
Party preference versus candidate-by-candidate judgment
Several interviewees show limited party loyalty or frustration with both major parties. That can leave room for a party preference in one race and a different decision elsewhere. The article’s accounts do not support treating any one interviewee’s choice as a forecast of a party’s overall support.
Checks on the president and the Iran war
Some interviewees also describe their views of Trump, checks and balances, or the Iran war as relevant to their decisions. Aaron L., a California independent, said he would “probably support [a] Democrat this time around just so there’s some check and balances in place.” Kevin, a Massachusetts civil engineer, described his reaction to the Iran war this way: “One of his platforms was no more useless wars, and here we are — we’re back.” These are respondents’ stated judgments and reasons, not independently demonstrated causal effects of policies.
How to read the numbers alongside the personal accounts
The poll’s 5%, 50%, and 45% figures and the article’s 16 interviews answer different questions: the poll reports preferences about congressional control, while the interviews illustrate how selected unsure respondents talk about their options. The polling detail available in the NBC News report does not establish the full questionnaire, sampling and weighting methods, margin of error, or the exact composition of the unsure group. Avoid treating the interviews as a substitute for those missing methodological details.
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