William Hahn – April 2 2026
According to the Ohio Secretary of State, 69.1% of voters in Defiance County cast their ballots for the current president in 2024. The margins were even higher in our neighboring counties: Williams (73.5%), Henry (72.6%), Paulding (77.2%) and the staggering 83.6% in Putnam.
While it isn’t possible to know what these voters envisioned for 2026, we can certainly see what we all received.
First, we are paying more for less. Broad tariffs have acted as a direct tax on consumers, driving up the cost of everyday imports. Many of the staples we bought pre-election now include a “protectionist premium.”
Second, our farmers are losing their best customers. Tariffs have stifled international demand for U.S. agricultural products, particularly soybeans. Because we’ve essentially locked our doors to trade, China has looked elsewhere, cementing long-term relationships with Brazil and Argentina. This has left American growers with lower prices, dwindling exports, and silos full of unsold crops. History warned us this would happen: the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 was intended to protect American industry, but instead triggered a global trade war and a domestic contraction. As George Santayana famously noted in 1905, “those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.”
Third, the human and economic cost of conflict. The recent military escalations with Iran have sent shockwaves through the energy market. We see the result every time we pass a gas station. These rising energy costs act as a hidden tax, increasing the cost of producing and delivering every good and service in the American economy and fueling a persistent inflationary cycle.
Fourth, a mountain of debt. In the 14 months since the inauguration, the national debt has surged by approximately $3 trillion, or an average of about $200 billion every single month. If this trajectory holds, we are looking at a $10 trillion addition to the debt in a single term. That is a historic and troublesome movement.
Finally, the disruption of our workforce. The administration’s aggressive deportation policies have diminished the labor pool in essential sectors like agriculture, construction and food processing. When crops go unharvested and projects are delayed due to labor shortages, the “ripple effect” hits the consumer’s wallet through higher housing and grocery costs.
Elections have consequences. As these policies continue to reshape the local economy, it is time for voters in Northwest Ohio to ask: Is this the outcome I voted for in November 2024?
William Hahn
rural Defiance
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