For the past few years, Ailene Bitnar had been listening to customers at a grocery store in the Upper Peninsula complain about high grocery prices.

And he felt the pain himself.

Bitnar, manager of Paradise Recreational Sports, has watched food prices rise over the past two years; had to pass these increases on to customers. He says the shop, located in a remote corner of the Upper Peninsula, now buys eggs for $5 a carton and sells them for $6.99.

“That’s the initial cost of the food, then the profit margin,” he said.

However, Bitnar hopes the economy will change with Donald Trump winning the presidential election.

“My new favorite number is 47,” he said.

Campaigning on a “conversion” messageTurning an economic nightmare into an economic miracleTrump broke the blue wall and affected people in swing states like Michigan. Frustration with high prices helped Trump win, even though experts say the president has little authority to lower grocery costs and that some of his policies could worsen inflation.

“This election was decided by economics,” said University of Michigan business professor Erik Gordon.

Relating to: The economy is a hot potato politically, but voters only see bigger grocery bills

Tight budgets influence voters

Until November 5, voters routinely cited the economy as: a major concernOn paper, things are going well: Inflation is falling, unemployment is low, and wages are rising.

But prices are still high.

“The economy is growing, but voters saw a very different reality in the supermarket. “That shaped their decisions about who to support,” said Michigan State University food economist David Ortega.

Trump focused on this issue, repeatedly asking voters the old Ronald Reagan adage: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” Meanwhile, political experts say Democrats touting data on the economy’s recovery are failing to acknowledge that voters are struggling.

“Trump was very critical of the economy and Democrats tried to defend the economy, so there was some disdain,” said Nazita Lajevardi, a political science professor at Michigan State University. “It doesn’t recognize the real problems that hurt people.”

Food prices are estimated to be 22% higher than they were four years ago. Surveys show that many Americans are struggling to find food. Almost half of tenants We spend too much money on housing. And About 4 in 10 households in Michigan They live paycheck to paycheck.

The high cost of living was on the mind of 41-year-old Courtney Thomas, who voted in Flint last week.

“I know there are a lot of people who are struggling,” he said. “Food prices have gone up. Gas has gone up. Hopefully this will make a difference for some people who are less fortunate.

“It’s the economy, stupid.”

David Dulio, a political science professor at Oakland University, says it becomes a motivating issue at the ballot box “when the perception of the economy is poor.”

Voters often punish who is responsible; James Carville famously said “it’s the economy, stupid” during the 1992 presidential election.

“All economists agree that the president gets too much credit for a good economy and too much blame for a bad economy,” Dulio said. “But this is one of the main issues for which the public holds the president accountable.”

This didn’t just happen in the United States.

Inflation has been felt globally over the past two years as the economy reels from the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic: contracted supply chains, high consumer demand and rising labor costs. Moreover, the war in Ukraine severe droughts And deadly bird flu also increased costs.

It’s clear that voters don’t like high prices, and the leaders who held the bag are now paying the price. Inside 10 major countriesIncumbent parties were eliminated.

“If you’re not happy, you blame the people in power because you think they’re responsible, even if they didn’t cause the problems,” Gordon said.

Trump’s plan to ‘eliminate’ inflation could make matters worse

Here’s the catch: prices tend to be sticky.

No matter who is in office, most food prices will not return to where they were before the pandemic because they generally do not decline. Grocery costs are rising more slowly; This year there was an increase of 1.2% compared to the previous year. 11% in 2022 – but Americans will likely feel the pain of the sudden jump for several years.

“There is nothing the president of the United States can do in the short term to lower food prices or affect the inflation rate,” Ortega said.

Trump still channeled this economic frustration to win his second presidential term.

He told voters that “inflation would be completely eliminated” under his plan to impose tariffs on imported goods and deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

But experts warn that these policies will likely have the opposite effect.

Sixteen Nobel Prize-winning economists voice concerns A July letter says: Trump’s proposals could “reignite” inflation, which “has been falling pretty quickly.” It reached 2.1% in October after peaking at 9% two years ago.

Ortega says the policy of imposing tariffs (taxes on imported goods) “will almost certainly backfire,” leading to an increase in food prices. Similarly, he says the mass deportation plan would create “unintended consequences” by hollowing out the farming workforce.

Approximately 40 percent of agricultural workers hired to harvest crops in the United States do not have legal status.

“A sudden deportation of this workforce could cause significant disruptions in the agricultural sector that could lead to an increase in food prices,” Ortega said.

Democrats take working-class voters into account

Meanwhile, Harris’s economic platform did not appeal to voters.

Harris has promised to give tax credits to low-income families and offer assistance to first-time homebuyers. He also announced a plan to crack down on price gouging to reduce grocery costs.

These messages did not reach Bitnar, who lives in the area he calls “Trump town”. As the manager of a rural grocery store located about 35 miles north of the Mackinac Bridge, it didn’t make sense for him to focus on price gouging.

“We don’t inflate prices because we can’t even buy milk for the price Walmart sells it for,” he said.

Democrats are now taking into account the growing number of working-class voters who used to make up their base and chose Trump over Harris.

“People are very disappointed with the claim that the rate of inflation is slowing down and that it feels tone-deaf to people who are struggling with the high cost of living, housing and livelihood,” Lajevardi said.

After the election, US Senator Bernie Sanders indicted The Democratic party’s defense of the “status quo” and abandonment of the working class. Democratic leader U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi I pushed back saying“We are America’s kitchen table, working-class party.”

Relating to: Experts say Michigan is still a purple state. Change may be coming.

Exit poll conducted by Edison Research Other key issues in Michigan show sharp partisan divides.

While 80 percent of Trump voters surveyed in Michigan said the economy was their biggest concern, 83 percent of Harris voters cited the state of democracy. Similarly, 89% of Trump voters said immigration was the top issue, while 65% of Harris voters listed abortion.

The war in Gaza has also affected voters in Michigan, where Arab Americans, who make up a significant portion of the electorate, are disappointed with the Biden administration’s support for Israel. Dearborn, the largest Arab-majority city in the country changed years of Democratic support To vote for Trump.

Harris, who is loyal to the incumbent administration, could not escape all these negativities. And experts say at the end of the day, voters are just looking for a change.

“They wanted to give someone else a chance,” Gordon said. “And they don’t seem to be thinking, ‘Wow, Republicans have great ideas.’ “They think they’re fed up with Democrats.”

MLive’s Dylan Goetz contributed to this report.