Pop music was blaring from a large speaker outside Longstreth Elementary School in Southwest Philadelphia as voters filed in and out on a beautifully warm Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s almost like you got to work three jobs just to pay one bill,” Regina Smith, 54, told Metro after casting her ballot. “That person in office (President Donald Trump), he's just screwing up everything, and I don’t understand how the people that work with him, why y’all don’t slap him upside his head?”
Philadelphians went to the polls Tuesday to vote in the 2026 midterm election. While Trump was not on the ballot, plenty of voters indicated that they hope the results send a message to the president as he approaches the final two years of his second term.
“My biggest thing was to put a check on Trump, period,” said Joel Williams, who voted at Mastbaum High School in Kensington. “Everybody is hurting except for the top 1%. Crypto is everywhere. Elon Musk is everywhere. A bunch of people that wasn’t voted in to do anything is doing everything.”
Voters mentioned the Iran war, White House corruption and other issues that have garnered headlines since Trump returned to office last year.
“I’m tired of Donald Trump. Everything about that man,” Dawn Jackson, a 47-year-old Kensington voter, remarked. “I’m hoping there’s changes after the midterms.”
Outside Corporal Jimmy O'Connor Memorial Recreation Center, in the Millbrook section of the Far Northeast, Cass Celebre, 80, said she is “very unhappy” with the current administration, citing concerns over foreign policy and other areas.
“I was always a Republican… but I voted straight Democrat because I’m unhappy with the Republicans that never refute him, never say or go against him,” she added. “They’re afraid of losing their jobs.”
None of the Congressional races within city limits are expected to be competitive and few of the state House and Senate districts are even being contested, so the marquee matchup, at least in Philadelphia, is for governor.
Gov. Josh Shapiro will be hoping to run up big margins, given Philadelphia has about six registered Democrats for every member of the GOP. The Republican challenger is Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity, who has won a pair of statewide elections.
Polls closed after Metro’s print deadline. Check electionreturns.pa.gov for results from the Pennsylvania Department of State, and go to metrophiladelphia.com for local election coverage.
Philadelphians voting in Tuesday’s election also made clear that they are worried about rising prices and the general cost of living.
“The price of food, it’s crazy. Gas,” Cheryl Adkins, 70, of Southwest Philadelphia said. “There’s people out here struggling to even buy food, to get their medicine. Sometimes they have to make a choice between their medicine or buying food or putting gas in their car so they can get to work to make money.”
The District Attorney’s Office, which operates a hotline and task force to respond to election-related complaints, reported only minor issues during a late morning news conference Tuesday.
“We’re not seeing a whole lot of effing around,” District Attorney Larry Krasner commented.
Residents told Metro that the voting process was easy, and many spoke about the need for everyone to turn up and cast their ballot.
“I think it’s important to vote, not just in the presidential elections,” Colleen Etherton, 36, of Kensington, said. "So much of policy and what we actually experience day to day is determined by those midterm elections and by the governor and the local representatives.”
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