Fox Puts Three Charts in Front of Voters on Election Day

On Election Day, Fox News published three charts meant to show what voters were weighing as they headed to the polls: high inflation, costly fuel and mortgages, and a rising stock market. The piece ran at 9:30 a.m. Eastern on Nov. 3.

Fox's figures say consumer prices rose 3.7 percent over the year through September, and 0.6 percent from August. A related Fox piece was headlined "High prices put Trump's economy in the spotlight as the GOP fights to hold Congress." The ballot also carried tax questions, including a property-tax cut in Florida and a proposed tax on billionaires in California.

One caution at the outset. The full text of the Fox article did not load for this story, so details here come from the page's metadata and syndicated copies. The inflation, mortgage and housing figures have not been checked against the original releases from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Freddie Mac or the National Association of Realtors. Treat them as Fox's numbers.

Everyday Costs, According to Fox

Fox's summary says inflation is outpacing wages, gas is above $4 a gallon, mortgage rates are above 7 percent, and the S&P 500 is up more than 26 percent during President Trump's second term. Those claims come from the article's metadata and syndicated summary, not from a chart source we could see, and they are not attributed here to any one person. The sourcing for the wage, gas and stock figures was not visible in the material reviewed.

Fox also cited a New York Federal Reserve study finding that tariffs added about 2.9 percentage points to prices across the consumer goods the researchers examined.

On energy, Fox said the wars involving Iran and Ukraine are disrupting global fuel supplies, and that diesel costs may be passed on in grocery, package and building-materials prices. One of the article's section headings reads "Diesel costs ripple through the economy."

Housing Numbers From Fox

Under a heading titled "A tougher path to homeownership," Fox reported that Freddie Mac's 30-year mortgage rate averaged 7.24 percent as of Oct. 29, and that the National Association of Realtors put the median existing-home price at $417,500 in September. Neither figure has been confirmed against the primary release.

Fox's author, Amanda Macias, was careful about what the charts can show. By her account, they show "how costs have changed, though not how voters will assign responsibility." She also wrote that the charts "cannot show how they will weigh the economy — or which party they will hold responsible." That is a fair limit. Fox's framing leans toward costs hurting Trump and the Republicans, but the voters' verdict is what the count will settle.

Taxes and Other Questions on the Ballot

In Florida, voters appeared poised to approve a large cut in state property taxes, Just the News reported, citing a New York Times results page. The measure is a priority of outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-led legislature. It needs 60 percent to pass, and results were not final when the outlet published.

The same ballot included a proposed billionaires tax in California, identified as Proposition 40 by CalMatters, along with income tax reform, redistricting plans and abortion measures. Just the News used editorial language about the California measure, calling it a "major boon to progressives," and said the state already faces an exodus of high earners. It offered no source for that claim, and it is not confirmed here.

The outlet also reported, citing the Associated Press, that 145 abortion-related measures were up for a vote. The count is attributed to AP but linked to a PBS page, and it could not be confirmed. Among the measures is a Missouri referendum that would reverse an earlier vote that ended the statewide ban, and it would allow exemptions for rape or incest.

On redistricting, Just the News reported that after the Supreme Court struck down race-based congressional districts in a Voting Rights Act dispute, Southern lawmakers redrew maps in ways that generally favor Republicans. Maryland has floated redrawing its own map in response.

What Comes Next

Results for House and Senate control and for the ballot measures are the next thing to come in. Florida's 60 percent threshold, California's Proposition 40 and the Missouri abortion vote are the ones to watch. The inflation, mortgage and housing numbers still need to be compared with the primary releases from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Freddie Mac and the National Association of Realtors.