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RALEIGH, N.C. — <\/span>Standing behind a downtown bar, Evan Duke smiled when he thought about no longer paying federal income tax<\/a> on the hundreds of dollars in tips he earns on a busy night pouring beers and mixing drinks.<\/p>\n But the 30-year-old said he cannot afford health insurance and worries about how higher costs for rent, food and fuel<\/a> are affecting him and the patrons who slip cash into the jar at Pearl & Peril. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of messy right now,\u201d Duke said. <\/p>\n Duke’s dilemma is an economic microcosm of Donald Trump’s second presidency. Although the Republican president has tried to put more money in middle-class pockets with tax cuts, the benefits are being eroded as prices keep rising, especially during the war with Iran. The latest numbers, released Tuesday, showed the rate of inflation continued to climb.<\/a><\/p>\n It’s a financial tug-of-war shaping people\u2019s lives as they consider the upcoming midterm elections,<\/a> which will determine control of Congress during the final two years of Trump’s tenure. <\/p>\n All of these economic issues have been center stage in the battleground state of North Carolina and its U.S. Senate race. Michael Whatley, the Republican nominee and former national party chairman, is championing Trump’s tax overhaul. Roy Cooper, the Democratic candidate and a former governor, is panning Trump’s management of the U.S. economy. <\/p>\n Duke, a registered independent, isn’t sure who he’ll support. Like a lot of Americans who vote with their wallets, he expects to decide based on \u201chow things are going at the time.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got to do more research,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The dividing line is what Trump called \u201cthe one big beautiful bill,\u201d his signature legislation that cuts taxes but also reduces funding for public programs like Medicaid. <\/p>\n When Whatley recently appeared with Vice President JD Vance in Rocky Mount, he said the midterm elections were about \u201cprotecting no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the claims were an exaggeration. For example, the legislation does not entirely eliminate federal levies on overtime<\/a>. But his remarks showed how much Republicans want voters to see the legislation as a \u201cworking families tax cut,\u201d as they’ve taken to calling it. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know about you, but I sure trust you to spend your money better than a federal government in D.C.,\u201d Whatley said. <\/p>\n Tracy Brill, 62, a Trump supporter in the audience, said she was willing to cope with rising costs due to the war. <\/p>\n \u201cThe course he\u2019s taken is spot on,\u201d she said, adding that \u201cI believe the other presidents didn\u2019t do what they should have done.\u201d<\/p>\n Cooper and Democrats have focused their pitch around what they call the \u201caffordability crisis.\u201d They emphasize health care costs<\/a> and Republicans\u2019 refusal to extend expanded subsidies for Affordable Care Act premiums. And they highlight housing and utility prices, hikes on consumer goods affected by Trump\u2019s tariffs, and ripple effects from the president\u2019s Iran war on everything from fuel and farmer\u2019s fertilizer costs to groceries. <\/p>\n \u201cIt seems like everything that Washington is doing is driving up costs across the board,\u201d Cooper said in Greensboro. <\/p>\n It’s a convenient turnabout for Democrats. President Joe Biden and his party had previously faced blame for inflation, which Trump capitalized on in his comeback campaign, but now Republicans shoulder the brunt of voters’ angst. <\/p>\n Republicans have a larger margin in the U.S. Senate than in the U.S. House, but Democrats believe economic dissatisfaction gives them a shot at full control of Congress. North Carolina is a top target along with Maine, Ohio and Alaska. There are even hopes that Iowa and Texas could be competitive, too. <\/p>\n Democrats have long struggled to win Senate seats in North Carolina, but they believe they have a better shot this year because Republican incumbent Thom Tillis is retiring<\/a>. <\/p>\n Cooper also enjoys a centrist reputation and has won six statewide elections already, including two gubernatorial contests in cycles when Trump carried North Carolina. Whatley has deep ties in Republican circles as a former lobbyist and longtime party leader, but he\u2019s not yet well known to voters. <\/p>\n Phyllis Aycock, a 79-year-old antiques store owner in Nash County, is leaning toward Cooper even after voting for Trump three times. She said she regrets her most recent vote for the president.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the whole trickle-down effect,\u201d Aycock said, explaining that economic uncertainty and inflation, including premium hikes on health insurance that supplements her Medicare and cancels out Social Security cost-of-living adjustments and any tax breaks she’s received during Trump\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n She said she wonders whether Trump \u201ceven thinks about the cause-and-effect of what he does or what he doesn\u2019t do, how it directly affects us, and when I say \u2018us,\u2019 I definitely mean the middle-class, lower-class working people, the blue collar, the ones that pay the taxes.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt just seems like there\u2019s no relief for us, like it\u2019s all for the guy who has everything already,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Aycock and her son, Michael, said they\u2019ve seen foot traffic and purchases at their store decrease, which sits a few doors down from the law office where Cooper and his father once practiced. The elder Aycock said she doesn\u2019t know Cooper personally but has voted for him before and would consider doing so again. <\/p>\n As for Whatley, she\u2019s heard only fealty to Trump. She tightened her lips, then said, \u201cI\u2019m worried he\u2019s just a yes man. We\u2019ve got enough of those.\u201d<\/p>\n