Across America, voters on the left and right fear the future is slipping away from what they’ve known

First votes and high stakes

At 65, Shane Dunn voted for the first time, casting a ballot last week in Levittown after moving to the Philadelphia suburbs. The former East Coast cook said he had been busy for much of his life, but learning about the country’s affairs brought him to vote.

Dunn voted Democratic and said he felt good about having his say. Across the country, voters were deciding contests that will determine control of Congress, governors’ offices and more during the last two years of Republican Donald Trump’s presidency.

Different fears, opposing choices

Many voters said the America they knew seemed to be changing. Their concerns included lawlessness among lawmakers, political hostility between neighbors, the influence of billionaires and a culture they felt did not reflect their lives; gas prices also drew mention.

In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Arthur Horner, 59, voted Democratic, hoping to slow what he called “the madness.” Horner runs a food importing and marketing company affected by tariffs. Elizabeth Marlett, a 61-year-old cattle rancher in Sioux City, Iowa, voted Republican. She said family values and liberties were under threat and pointed to her son’s difficulties obtaining veterans’ benefits, processed food and what she viewed as a leftward shift in society.

Trump draws criticism and support

Smith nevertheless supported Trump’s manufacturing push and voted Republican, viewing the party as more responsible with money. In Ohio, independent David Wilkinson called Trump the worst president in U.S. history, while his wife, Lori, had voted for Republican George W. Bush in past presidential elections.

Trump supporter Therese Mennell said she understood why people disliked the president’s manner. The retiree said his arrogant-seeming style could put her off, and that she sometimes turned him off because of how he spoke.

Family voting together in Kansas

Trump urged supporters to act as though he were on the ballot, seeking to energize voters who might otherwise stay home. The appeal could also motivate people who oppose him.

In Topeka, Kansas, brothers Samontae Mwangi, 20, and Gathenya Mwangi, 19, voted for the first time alongside their grandfather, Lynn Henderson, 68, a retired tire worker and former Marine. Henderson wanted the outing to give his grandsons a lasting memory after his mother’s recent death; all three hoped Democrats would win.

Gathenya said he believed more people voting could make a difference. Denise Wunder, a retired sandwich shop manager whose leading concern was illegal immigration, viewed the stakes differently.