Voters usually ignore corruption, but the issue now has their attention. On Wednesday, Republican Michael Nave cast his vote against his party in Clearwater, Florida. He said, "Trump said he would drain the swamp, and he's become the swamp." Many Americans now feel that politicians enrich themselves while others struggle.
Voters have shrugged off accusations of corruption for years, believing all politicians are corrupt, but thanks to President Trump's unpopularity and growing wealth, the issue is breaking through.
Like many Americans, Michael Nave has a hunch that politicians of both parties enrich themselves while the working class struggles to make ends meet.
But on Wednesday, Mr. Nave, a Republican, decided the party in power has become too corrupt. He cast his vote early, in Clearwater, Fla., against every Republican on the ballot, including Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who has been depicted by her opponent as emblematic of a party rife with self-enrichment and cronyism under the leadership of President Trump.
"Trump said he would drain the swamp, and he's become the swamp," said Mr. Nave, 61, of Dunedin, Fla.
Allegations of corruption in Washington are nothing new in political campaigns. They are usually shrugged off by voters who figure all politicians are equally guilty, whether they be Democrats such as former Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey or Republicans like former Representative George Santos of New York. But Democratic efforts to bolster the issue this year may be resonating amid a drumbeat of stories about Mr. Trump's staggering increase in wealth and the billionaire and corporate elites who have supported him.
Some recent polls have shown corruption has risen to the top of issues that voters say they care about most, fueled by a withering distrust in government and a sense of opacity in Washington.