canton, ohio<u+2014>as voters turned up for the primary elections in this blue-collar county, phil giavasis became worried: about 2,600 registered democrats asked for ballots to vote in the republican primary, he said, while only 1,100 republicans wanted to vote in the democratic contest. <u+201c>democrats have historically shown up and said, <u+2018>give me a democratic ballot,<u+2019> <u+201d> said mr. giavasis, the party<u+2019>s chairman for stark county. <u+201c>this time, we saw democrats switching over to vote republican.<u+201d> that is just one sign that republican strength may be growing in parts of the industrial midwest that, like this one, are still working to transition to the high-tech economy. stark county is a former steel-industry hub that has lost nearly 40% of its manufacturing jobs since the late 1990s. this county and its neighbors will offer a good test of whether donald trump and like-minded republicans can make gains in the small cities and townships of ohio, pennsylvania and elsewhere with promises to revive manufacturing and refocus on the working class. gop growth here could help offset democratic gains in recent years in big cities and their surrounding suburbs. usually, about 35% to 40% of construction-trade union members vote republican, turning aside efforts by union leaders to boost the democratic ticket, said dave kirven, president of the area<u+2019>s building & construction trades council. but this year, he said, <u+201c>i think about half of our guys will probably vote for trump.<u+201d> many union members vote republican in order to protect gun rights, he said. the increase this year <u+201c>is from people being angry about the government not doing anything.<u+201d> mr. trump<u+2019>s focus on working-class jobs appears to be resonating in a metropolitan area in which manufacturing employment fell from about 45,000 in 1998 to 28,000 in 2015. <u+201c>my economic agenda can be summed up in three words: jobs, jobs, jobs. and that begins with a new, america-first trade policy,<u+2019><u+2019> mr. trump said during a september campaign rally in canton, an hour<u+2019>s drive south of cleveland. manufacturing employment has stabilized in recent years, and fields such as health care have partially made up for the losses. still, many locals say they remember when hoover co. made vacuum cleaners here, ford made auto parts, and a variety of companies made steel. <u+201c>stark county was all steel,<u+201d> said nick santarelli, age 82 and retired. <u+201c>everyone worked in the steel mill. my father worked in the steel mill.<u+201d> so did mr. santarelli, until he moved on to a career in sales. mr. santarelli<u+2019>s leanings help illustrate both the appeal of mr. trump<u+2019>s message and the candidate<u+2019>s limits as a messenger. over breakfast recently at the b&k cafe, a welcoming place set amid dollar stores and pizza restaurants, mr. santarelli said he liked some of mr. trump<u+2019>s promises about trade and the economy, though he doubted they could be fulfilled. more troubling, he said, were mr. trump<u+2019>s controversial statements, such as his claim that sen. john mccain (r., ariz.), a former prisoner of war in vietnam, wasn<u+2019>t a war hero. mr. santarelli had backed gop nominee mitt romney in 2012. but when he filled out his ballot this year, he left his choice for president blank. <u+201c>honestly, i would have voted for any other republican,<u+201d> he said. twin sisters muriel cantwell and stephanie blythe, 64 years old, who were also at the b&k cafe for breakfast, said they didn<u+2019>t like their election choices, either. after backing ohio gov. john kasich in the gop primary, they have come to different conclusions: ms. cantwell supports mr. trump, while her sister is backing democrat hillary clinton. ms. cantwell, a nurses aide, likes mr. trump<u+2019>s calls for less federal regulation and better trade deals, though she frets that <u+201c>he gets so worked up into cutting other people down.<u+201d> ms. blythe, a retired nursing-school administrator, said her vote for mrs. clinton will be the first time she<u+2019>s backed a democrat for president. <u+201c>i think she<u+2019>s just not as divisive as donald trump,<u+201d> ms. blythe said. but both sisters wanted to keep limits on mrs. clinton, should she win. both backed republican sen. rob portman for re-election. with mrs. clinton in the white house, <u+201c>the republicans keeping the house and senate would be best,<u+201d> ms. blythe said. <u+201c>checks and balances,<u+201d> ms. cantwell added. still, the overriding feeling at the b&k was that washington had to change, and mr. trump, more than mrs. clinton, would change it. even voters who had backed bill clinton for president in 1992 and 1996, such as ms. cantwell, said mrs. clinton wasn<u+2019>t right for the moment. donna rehs, 57, a sales representative for a food-services distributor, said she had also backed mr. clinton for president. <u+201c>i liked what he did. he got a lot of people off their butts and back to work,<u+201d> she said. <u+201c>he didn<u+2019>t enable the entitlement that a lot of people have.<u+2019><u+2019> she has put two sons through college, and she thinks mrs. clinton<u+2019>s debt-free college-tuition plan is <u+201c>a joke.<u+201d> <u+201c>since when do you not work for what you have?<u+201d> she asked. democratic leaders here tell voters that mr. trump doesn<u+2019>t practice what he preaches, that his clothing line is made overseas and his buildings constructed with chinese steel. but some people say he is talking about the issues that matter most to them. <u+201c>i really think he would change things,<u+201d> said sandy manges, 73, a realtor who said she regrets her 2008 vote for president barack obama. <u+201c>i just think donald trump will open things up and work for people like us.<u+201d> write to aaron zitner at aaron.zitner@dowjones.com
in ohio<u+2019>s blue-collar bellwether, the focus is on jobs - wsj
aaron zitner