ANGIE MILES: Welcome to Nelson County's Route 151.

The Craft Beverage Trail.

Nelson in the fall is a place for sightseeing, music, festivals and spirits of many types.

♪ ANGIE MILES: Possibly spirited conversations and of a political variety as the election draws near.

Greg and Alice Brown moved here several years ago.

ALICE BROWN: It was so beautiful here, and the people here are so nice.

And and you go down the road and everybody waves to you and it's like, well, who are they waving at?

GREG BROWN: Yeah its like there's no strangers here.

Everybody waves to everybody.

ALICE BROWN: It was... we fell in love.

ANGIE MILES: In one of the most idyllic settings in Virginia, the Browns say election talk is everywhere at the gas station, the grocery store, wherever people gather.

And what are people saying?

GREG BROWN: They want the border shut.

They want to be able to afford to buy groceries.

And that's that's two biggies.

ANGIE MILES: As one of five pivot counties in the state, Nelson went for Obama in 2008.

In 2012, before voting for Trump in 2016 and 2020.

Caroline is another county that swung from Obama to Trump.

GABE BELL: It's very much about change, change, change, change.

People want something new.

They want something better.

ANGIE MILES: And Caroline is talking about the big issues as well.

DUANE FIELDS: Obviously, the economy is one.

Immigration is another.

A womans right to choose.

These are all things that are being talked about within this county.

Theres a lot of misinformation out there that a lot of our young people are getting.

However, I do sense that there is a sense of excitement again.

GABE BELL: The biggest issue I hear with Kamala is, “Well, I don't think she's qualified.” There's a lot of talk about, how repetitive she is and how kind of circulatory her speech is.

And then for Donald Trump, I think people just are still, “Well, he's racist.” And I think people just don't trust Donald Trump.

ANGIE MILES: As a veteran and a devout Christian, Gabe Bell is most interested in... GABE BELL: A heart for veterans or at least the better interest of veterans in mind.

Our national security and, you know, our economy.

On topics like abortion we try to find candidates that more align with what we believe is morally right, scripturally speaking.

ANGIE MILES: Other evangelical residents of Caroline say they are hyper focused on character.

DUANE FIELDS: Scripture talks about some of the traits that we ought to have.

They ought not to be divisive.

They ought not to be full of hateful rhetoric.

It's our job to love everybody.

And so, character means everything.

ANGIE MILES: If you had to make a prediction, who would you say Caroline is going to go for this time?

DUANE FIELDS: I don't know who's going to wind up winning, but I just know how important it is to vote.

One of the things that we're pursuing at our church is we want to vote at a rate of 100%.

GABE BELL: No matter who it is, we pray that God blesses them and their time because they are still, whoever it is, is going to be our president.

ANGIE MILES: Greg Brown says the change from Obama to Trump does not seem strange at all to him when he reflects on what voters are really after.

GREG BROWN: Nelson County is a blue collar community.

They work hard, but they can't work hard enough sometimes to pay all their bills.

Your blue collar worker is paying for all the rich, paying for all the poor, paying for all the people in the middle, so...

They don't see politics has been changed from the status quo.

Big companies are still getting the tax breaks.

They're not paying taxes.

They got record profits, they're putting on the books, while the guy that's actually working for them can't pay these bills.

Those folks didn't get the change they were really looking for from Obama, but they're still looking for change.

And that's all Trump is selling is change doesn't really have a plan, but he's going to fix everything, right?

ALICE BROWN: And I don't think one person can change the world.

And I think a lot of people are having their faith put in one person.

I don't know the solution, but I just wish that we would come together more instead of being divided.

And work together and hopefully one day that will happen.

ANGIE MILES: It appears that in 2024, Pivot County voters are poised to move towards whichever candidate they truly believe will deliver change that is much more than a campaign promise.