Why a recent college grad wants Republicans to ‘step it up’ on affordability

Ahead of the midterm elections, The Washington Post is offering snapshots of voters across the country who cite affordability as a top concern. Here is the third in the series.

Michael Fusella supported President Donald Trump for nearly a decade — starting around age 12.

Passionate about politics since high school, Fusella regularly debated fellow students about immigration and gun rights. He was finally old enough to cast his first ballot for Trump in 2024.

“I would have voted for him in 2020 and 2016 if I could,” Fusella said.

But as the war with Iran drags on and the cost of living continues to climb, the 21-year-old registered Republican said he feels betrayed by a president who said he’d end overseas conflicts and lower prices.

“We were never promised this,” Fusella said.

Financial snapshot

Hourly wage: $18.50

Age: 21

Profession: Campaign worker

Monthly rent: $0

Affordability is top of mind for Fusella as milestones like being able to buy a home by the time he is in his late 20s feel increasingly out of reach. He’s among the 65 percent of American adults who say they disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, including about 1 in 3 Republicans, according to a recent Economist/YouGov poll.

Still, Fusella said he’ll back Republican candidates in most Florida races. He plans to skip the governor’s race, however, citing his dislike of Republican Byron Donalds and Democrat David Jolly. Fusella said he feels Donalds’s campaign has been dismissive of younger voters, but he is “definitely not voting Democrat either.”

He lives in Florida’s 15th Congressional District and is volunteering in the neighboring 14th District for Mike Beltran, a former Republican state representative running to unseat Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Florida).

“I do think having conservative leadership here in Florida, regardless of some of my gripes with the party, is still important,” he said. “But I think Republicans need to step it up on this affordability issue.”

Fusella graduated from the University of South Florida in Tampa in May with a bachelor’s degree in finance. Scholarships and a family college savings plan covered his degree, leaving him without student loans. But he moved back in with his parents in Tampa to avoid paying rent, he said. He plans to stay for the foreseeable future and has joked that his parents “better get used to me.”

“You’re seeing that all over the country with people our age,” he said. “They’re just choosing to stay with their parents because it’s what they have to do.”

He makes $18.50 an hour working full-time for a Hillsborough County Commission campaign, which he said comes out to roughly $3,000 a month. Fusella didn’t plan to work in politics, but said he had a hard time finding a job right out of college. Now that he’s doing it though, he said he enjoys working on campaigns.

Until early October, he also worked as a hotel valet. But as the hotel raised its parking rates to almost $50 a night, customers tipped less or stopped tipping altogether, he said.

“I felt like I just kept making less and less money, and I would just stand there for eight hours for barely anything,” Fusella said.

His campaign job requires him to drive across the county. He uses his dad’s 2018 Chevrolet Silverado, which he said requires premium gasoline. He often pays more than $5 a gallon, spending upward of $100 to fill the tank.

“I’m not poor or broke or anything, but I’m going broke because of how bad the gas prices are,” Fusella said.

Beyond gas, his expenses include food, car repairs and law school application fees. He has been cutting back lately, including going out to bars and clubs with friends less often.

When they do go out, they try to “pregame” (drink beforehand) or plan around specials. Even with a $5 drink deal, a recent karaoke outing cost him more than $100 for two slices of pizza, a few Jack and Cokes and parking. He said he often spends about that much on a night out with friends.

“The money just disappears before you even know it,” Fusella said.

Fusella said he wants Republicans to offer concrete proposals to make life more affordable instead of warning about Democratic candidates “bringing socialism to Florida.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like socialism as much as the next person,” Fusella said, “but you can’t predicate your entire political platform on just defeating socialism.”

He also wants older generations to understand why young people may have to work much harder than their parents and grandparents to reach the same milestones.

“I try not to take that victim mentality, but the unfortunate truth is we have to face the reality that we live in,” he said. “Everything costs more. Everything is a lot harder than it used to be.”

Even so, he tries to remain optimistic about one day achieving the American Dream he grew up hearing about. He wants to own property and have “the white picket fence in a nice suburban neighborhood, get married, raise a family.”

Lately, though, he said, that idea feels more like a fantasy.

“Maybe it’ll be just that much more worth it when I actually do achieve it one day,” he said, “and hopefully not when I’m 65.”