Navistar laid off nearly 1,400 workers Wednesday at its truck factory in Springfield, Ohio, three days before President Donald Trump holds a rally nearby. The timing lands on top of a broader squeeze on the region’s working class, with inflation pushing costs up even as local politicians tout new jobs.
Kyle Bos, 30, a father of two young children, voted for Trump three times but said he is now done with the president. He pointed to rising prices and a growing sense that the economy is failing people.
“Something has to change politically in this country,” Bos said. “Seems like it just kept getting worse and worse and worse.”
The Layoffs and Their Cost
Bos listed changes in his life: two daughters, a third due in January; five grocery items costing what a full cart once did. The layoffs wiped out an entire year of job growth in the greater Dayton, Ohio, area.
Trump promised $5,000 checks if Republicans win the House and Senate next month. Bos called that offer offensive.
“It feels like a bribe, a slap in the face, and, like, that we’re all ignorant,” Bos said.
Dayton’s Long Decline
Dayton lost about half of its 90,000 factory jobs since 1990, after trade deals shifted work abroad. Drug addiction and crime rose as steady paychecks vanished.
Phil Plummer, then Montgomery County Sheriff, entered politics after the 2008 financial crisis. He said his jail was filled with people suffering from problems that used to be rare.
“My jail was 40% drug addicts, 50% mental health patients, 10% criminals,” Plummer said. “We got it upside down — that’s what drove me to the state house.”
Plummer now runs for Ohio state Senate as Montgomery County Republican chairman.
New Jobs, Old Wounds
The White House points to a $850 million investment by aircraft maker Electra, plus announcements from Honda, Stellantis and others in Ohio. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has expanded to employ 38,000 directly.
New aerospace firms came to the area, including Joby Aviation, Sierra Nevada Corporation and Electra. Downtown Dayton added lofts and renovated the historic Dayton Arcade into shops, gallery and eateries.
“It takes time” in economic development, said Jeff Hoagland, CEO of the Dayton Development Coalition.
What Dayton Voters Want Now
Rose Lounsbury, former schoolteacher, ran for state representative a second time as a Democrat. She described a disconnect voters feel between what they want and what they see available.
“There is a gap between what people want and what they feel is available,” Lounsbury said. “People don’t want to live a life of subsistence. They want to live the middle-class dream and they feel it’s not available like it once was.”
The rally tour continues Saturday, part of a 32-day swing. Americans blame Trump for the high cost of living with just 17% approving of his handling of it.
The question for Republicans is whether the new jobs can close the gap voters describe. Bos’s shift shows how quickly a personal vote can change direction.
Source material: “Ohio truck factory lays off 1,400 days before Trump midterm rally in the area,” the New York Post.
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